Misguided Ghosts
by Evil Pharaoh Atem
Summary: Akila didn't believe in Destiny, but destiny had a plan for her. Torn from her family and moved country to country following a dream that dealt with history, she would soon learn that history was looking for her. AtemXOC Rating may go up
1. prologue: In The Begining

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or its characters.

Authors Note: Ok, this is my first attempt at a story with an OC. This is not a Mary sue thing. I had made up Akila years ago in a creative writing class I took in high school. The only thing I changed about her was her nationality and her name. She was originally named Britney, but that didn't really fit in this story. (She was an orphan). This will not stop me from continuing "Salvation" this is just something that has been in my head for months and I'm finally ready to get it out of my head. Tell me what you think.

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Prologue:

In The Beginning

Life is never easy, or simple. Someone could plan out their life to a T and destiny could have something completely different planned out for them. A girl could grow up with the dream and ambition to become a nurse, and find herself alone on the streets turning tricks just to eat that night. So imagine my surprise when I come home from school one day and find my whole world turned upside down.

My name is Akila and I was born in Egypt, but destiny decided I was bound for Japan when I came home one day from Elementary school to find the Police waiting for me. Apparently they had missed me from school, or that's what the officer told me. I had to walk home that day, because my parents hadn't picked me up from school like they promised. Now I understood why. Apparently on their way to the school, their brakes had given out and they crashed into a truck in front of them, killing them. I woke up that morning in a happy family with two parents, a nice home, and a dream to become an archeologist so I could learn more about my homeland that has sparked so many dreams and fascinations by everyone for years. And now I come home to an empty house, with a few uniformed men and a woman in a suite to take me away to an orphanage.

I was in the orphanage for a little while, but when I was ten I was adopted by an American couple. I lived the next 7 years with them in New York learning English and continuing my school. It seemed my dreams were back on track. However, a few months after my 17th birthday I found out my life was about to be turned upside once again. My new family and I would be moving to Japan for my fathers work. He was an archeologist himself, and was called by a woman named Ishizu Ishtar with a job offer. So at the end of summer, when all my friends were getting ready for their senior year in high school, I was at home, packing up my life once again, learning a new language, and moving to a completely new country on the other side of the world.

So here I stand, in my pink school jacket and blue skirt, knee high socks and Mary Jane shoes, clutching onto my books for dear life. After all, books were really all I have anymore. If it weren't for them I don't know how I would be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Soon I would be able to choose my own path. Live where I want, and have my dream job back in my home country of Egypt.

My story begins during my first day of school at a new school in a new country. And as I stood outside my new school in Domino all I saw were other kids dressed in school uniforms, something I wasn't used to. They all looked the same. Boys in blue pants and blue school jackets and black shoes on, and the girls wore pink jackets and blue skirts, knee high socks and Mary Jane shoes on. I felt like such an outsider. Sure I had long black hair; it wasn't so unseen in Japan, but my skin and my accent. I tied my hair up in a bun that morning and put on my old thick rimmed glasses I use for reading. Perhaps if I looked mediocre, everyone could ignore how different I was.

Just so you know, before I started this school I didn't believe in destiny. I believed that we all make our own destiny. Magic wasn't real; it could all be proven by science. I was good at science. But, I would find out how close minded I was when the history I was so interested in working with would come to me.


	2. Running Up That Hill

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters or the song lyrics to "Running up that hill" by Bush (the version I used as inspiration was the cover of this song by Placebo_)

**Authors note**: Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I personally hate turkey, but there are a lot of other food choices thankfully! I can't wait to hear some feed back about my OC story. Don't be upset, I am still working on Salvation. Just gotta work a few kinks out of it and then a new chapter shall be posted. I promise.

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_Chapter 1_

**_Running Up That Hill_**

"Akila! You're going to be late for your first day of school!" A lump under a big comforter moved a little at that. As if the incessant buzzing of her alarm clock wasn't enough, but her mother was now screaming at the top of her lungs at 6:30 in the morning to get her going. With a grumble and a sigh Akila pushed off her comforter and hopped out of bed, her wild and tangled hair flopped into her face as if it too thought it was too early to be up. She walked into the bathroom and stared into the mirror at herself. She was relieved to see that her face was no longer puffy from the crying fit she had the night before. She wasn't looking forward to starting this new school. She was afraid that she hadn't learned the language well enough to survive in a Japanese school. Not to mention who really jumped for joy at the idea of picking their lives up and moving to a completely new area where they didn't know anyone?

"Well, it's time to face the music." She muttered in Arabic, her native language. It had been so long since she had muttered her home lands tongue, and at the same time it was so familiar and sweet to say. She was glad the accent stayed over the years. With another deep breath and an acceptance for the inevitable, she jumped into the shower, ready to start the day.

Once she was done with her shower, which thankfully helped wake her up a bit, she put on her new schools uniform, fiddling with it uncomfortably. She wasn't one for wearing skirts. If she had to wear dressed, they were long ones. She felt so exposed right now. After she gave up with trying to magically making her skirt longer, she went back into the bathroom and brushed the tangle out of her long black hair before tying it back and putting it in a bun. She didn't have the time or the patients to dry it this morning. She put on her reading glasses and looked into the mirror one more time before she would decide to go down stairs for the morning. As she stared at the girl looking back at her, she couldn't help but chuckle. She didn't look anything like herself. She was a beautiful girl, and she knew it. This girl looking back at her looked like a girl that didn't care about her looks. Her hair tied back and her thick rimmed reading glasses. She looked like a nerd in her opinion. But she didn't have time to worry about her looks anymore. She ran back to her room and grabbed her book bag that contained everything she would need before she ran down stairs to be greeted by her mother, who was waiting for her in the kitchen with a bowl of cereal and a brown paper bagged lunch.

"It's amazing how you can scream so loud so early in the morning, mom" Akila said again in Arabic, knowing her mom would get at her about that. Her mother was American, but thankfully took the time to learn the foreign language when Akila was adopted to help bond with the young girl. Right on queue though, she heard her mom clear her throat, as she took a bite of cereal waiting for the remark.

"Could you please use Japanese some time? You need to get used to it considering where we live now, you know?" she said as she watched her daughter eat her breakfast, knowing she wasn't listening to her. "I realize this is tough for you, sweetie, but your father has a good job here making more money then before, it would help if you would be a little supportive of him." Akila sighed. This was the millionth time she had heard this speech and it made her feel bad that her mom thought she wasn't being supportive of her dad. She was proud of him, she really was. It wasn't every day that your father gets acknowledged for his work and asked to work on the restoration of some artifacts, scheduled to be showed to the public. In fact, he was supposed to be honored at the museum in Domino for his work. She was proud; she just wanted to keep part of her past with her.

"Mom, honestly, I am proud of dad, ecstatic in fact. I can't wait to be with him on that stage when he shows everyone his work. I can't wait. And now, I have to go to school." She said scooping up her backpack, and hurling it onto her shoulder with an exaggerated smile. "Dewa mata atode" She said, running out of the door. Hopefully that would be enough to satisfy her mother for now. As she walked to school, she put in her head phones on to listen to her ipod with a sigh, attempting to block out all the strangeness that surrounded her. She had walked the path to her school a few times the last few days to make sure she wasn't late today because she got lost. She had only missed a few days of the school year, so she was confident that she would be able to catch up pretty easily. As she was getting closer to school, she noticed across the street from her, walking out of what looked like a small shop; she saw a group of teenagers her age walking towards her school. She stared at them for a moment and smiled. Maybe soon she could be like them. Joyfully walking to school instead of dragging her feet, wishing she could dodge the dreadful first day awkwardness. She even giggled to herself, noticing two boys in particular. It wasn't like she could really avoid looking at them; their hair was so obvious and noticeable. Both were spiky and out of control, and tri colored. Red, black and blonde seemed to make the spiky mess even more unique. Though, the boy that seemed to be the tallest had blonde going up into his hair like lightning bolts. She figured it as their way of looking different from each other. She must have giggled too loudly, due to her partial deafness from her ipod, and drew the attention of one of the boys who seemed to stop and look at her. He was tan, and handsome. She smiled at him and waved a little, blushing slightly at being caught staring. She thought he was about to say something when she noticed the brunet in the group grab at his arm and stole his attention away, hugging him close. 'Must be his girlfriend' she thought and went back to walking to school, walking a bit quicker then the group beside her. She went back to focusing on her music a bit, singing along "And if I only could, Make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places, be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building. If I only could, oh..."

* * *

"Atem! Atem, you have to wake up, we're going to be late for school!" Ruby colored eyes shot open when he realized that his alarm clocked hadn't gone off for the morning. He looked over at his clock and realized he only had maybe fifteen minutes until his friends would be here to walk with them to school.

"Shit" he cursed to himself, throwing his blankets off his bare-chested self before he ran out of the room, almost knocking down his double gagger. "Sorry Yugi!" The smaller look a like heard from behind the closed bathroom door. Yugi shook his head with a chuckle. This seemed to be becoming an every day deal. Atem would forget to set his alarm clock to the night before, he would have to wake him up, the other would rush to get ready while Yugi sat down stairs eating breakfast at his leisure. Speaking of which, Yugi started heading down stairs where he could hear his uncle shuffling about trying to help the two get ready for school.

"Is he awake?" Yugi heard his grandpa's voice as soon as he walked into the kitchen. Yugi smiled and nodded and the older Motou couldn't help but chuckle himself. It had only been a few months that the Pharaoh had come to live with them in the modern world, and he could tell the former royal was having trouble adjusting to life once again. However, he could help but be proud of the teen for his decision. After all, he could have gone to the afterlife and be with his family, but he realized he had family here with him that he was just starting to get to know. He and Yugi had become very fond of each other, became very close friends and he knew his grandson would be a mess now if he other had decided to leave. Despite the fact that the old mans reasoning for the Pharaoh's choice to stay and live with them was selfish on his part, he was thankful that his grandson wouldn't have to suffer a loss as big as that. Especially after all they had gone through. "Don't worry, Yugi, I doubt you'll have to do this forever. He's just not used to everything yet. He'll get it soon enough." He was delighted to see Yugi chuckle to himself at the comment instead of sighing with worry like he was so used to. It seemed Yugi was getting back to his old carefree self now that he didn't have to look behind his back every two seconds and wait for the next evil attempt to harm him.

"I know, I'm proud of the progress he has made already. I have a feeling he was watching my life a bit more then he led on though." Yugi smiled as he ate his breakfast. Life was finally back to normal, and he couldn't be any happier. His best friend decided to stay in this world with him, and the Gods allowed it, and granted him his own body. The same one he had five millennia ago, so he looked like himself and not necessarily like Yugi. He had his own identity as well thanks to Ishizu and Kaiba's help. Atem Hasan, cousin to Yugi Motou, under Solomon Motou's guardianship. And what was best of all, they seemed to still have their mind link. It made it easier for Yugi to explain things to Atem during class that way, so they wouldn't get in trouble for talking.

"Thank you Aibou!" A baritone voice came from behind Yugi as the former Pharaoh. Yugi turned around and smiled at the still damp Pharaoh. He had to rush with his shower it seemed, but he was almost on time to eat breakfast today. He sat down next to Yugi while Solomon gave him a bowl of breakfast. "Thank you Mr. Motou." "It's no problem. How did you sleep, Pharaoh?" Solomon only added Atem's title because he knew it irritated him so much. Since his arrival, Atem made it clear that he didn't want to be referred to as Pharaoh. The only people he accepted it from were the Ishtars, only because he knew he'd be fighting a losing battle. They had been raised to serve him and would probably feel like they were disrespecting not only him but their heritage by addressing him so informally. "How many times do I have to ask you to call me by my name?" He asked the old man who had so graciously opened his home to Atem. After all the bad things he had to go through and had to watch his grandson go through because they were tools for others to get to Atem, he was glad the old man let him in so openly as if Atem was part of the family.

"Around the time you stop calling me Mr. Motou and start calling me Grandpa." He joked. He and his two Grandsons shared a laugh together before the door bell rang signaling for Yugi and Atem to get their things and head to school. Yugi was the first to answer the door to greet his three best friends: Joey, Tristan, and Tea with big smiled while Atem was in the background grabbing his school books he had forgotten to put back in his backpack after trying to hours to tackle his homework he ended up stubbornly allowing Yugi to help with at the end of the night. He couldn't wait until he got the hang of all this school business. The five of them left the games shop after a quick goodbye from Grandpa and headed off to another day of school. As they started walking, Atem started to get this feeling that he was being watched, and as he looked around his eyes crossed paths with a shy looking girl. He could tell she wasn't from around here by her clearly uncomfortable posture and her looks.

//Hey Yugi, who is that?// He asked his partner though his link, hoping not to gain too much attention from his friends as he received a shy wave from the now embarrassed girl. He felt like if he made any sudden moments she would be scared away like a deer that crossed paths with a person. Yugi looked towards where Atem was looking and saw her. He couldn't place her face or anything, but he knew she went to their school considering her uniform.

//I'm not sure, perhaps she's a new student.// yugi pondered as Atem felt Teas arm slither around his. He could feel his partners pain at the sight of this. Yugi liked Tea, and Atem knew it. He himself had no interest in her, but she for some reason wouldn't take no for an answer. //It's okay, Atem, don't feel bad. I know you don't want to hurt me and I know she doesn't either. She just doesn't see me that way.// It hurt Atem hear Yugi admit defeat so easily when it came to matters of his heart. Atem wanted Yugi to be happy.

//Have you told her your feelings yet? Perhaps she just doesn't think you like her?// Atem said, feeling Yugi's spirit lift a little.

//No, I'm too chicken to.// Yugi chuckled to himself. Joey looked at him, curious, but figured he was saying something to Atem. The three of them had long since accepted Yugi and Atem's link with each other. It was all just a matter of getting used to the random laughs, or sighs, or whatever reaction the other would express from time to time without realizing it.

_"And if I only could, Make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places, be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building. If I only could, oh..." _

Atem's attention went back to the foreigner once again when he heard her singing. She was obviously oblivious to how loud she was. She didn't seem to be the type to just sing in public, considering how shy she came off as.

//Why are you so curious about her?// Yugi question, finding it odd for someone to catch Atem's attention so easily. Atem shrugged and watched as she sped away.

//I'm not sure…// Yugi bit his lip at this. He hoped this wasn't the start of a new and dangerous adventure that would put his life and the life of his friends in harms way. Atem sent his concerns to Yugi as well, hoping for the exact same thing.

* * *

**Author Note**: "_Dewa mata atode_" If my translation is indeed correct means "See you later" Please review! I can't wait to hear your input. Tell me if I should continue or should I stick to puzzleshipping? **LET ME KNOW**! I would love to hear from you! _**Much love**_!


	3. Starstrukk

_**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Yugioh or the slightly altered Yugioh Wikia quote I used._

**Author's note:** _Well, sorry for the slight delay in updating. I have a few key things I want to happen in the story, but I've been trying to figure out when I want these things to take place, or even if I want them in the story. What I'm thinking about doing, is at the end of the story is have a "special features" chapter to two, kind of like on DVDs with "deleted scenes" on it, if I happen to take stuff out. So stay tuned for that. Also, I am not trying to make this story as a songfic…I hate songfics…but as you will find out later one, songs are kind of a big thing in the story…probably just gave away something, but WHATEVER! It's funny, as I'm thinking about this story, how the character Akila changes so much from the character I made up in high school. I do love writing her though._

_OK enough with my ranting, onto the next chapter!!!!!!!_

_

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**Chapter 2**_

**Starstrukk**

The warning bell rang in the hallways that made Domino some what like a maze to someone who wasn't familiar with its layout. Akila had already talked to her teacher, who had her stand in the corner of the room until the start of class when she would introduce her to everyone.

'_Wonderful_, _I thought they only did this in movies…_.' She thought to herself as she clutched her binder and books to her chest. She grumbled to herself as she leaned against the two walls that made up the point of the corner, watching as student after student filled into the classroom and sitting in their assigned seats. After a while, a few slightly familiar faces made their way into the class room. The group of students that she had seen walking on the other side of the street from her earlier that morning was in the class. She hadn't formally introduced herself, and they didn't know her at all, but for some reason she felt a little comforted by the fact that she "knew" someone in the room. She continued to stand there, trying her best to make herself phase into the wall before anyone noticed she was there.

"Hey…" A calming monotone voice made Akila jump out of her panic and made her looking into two piercing crimson eyes. She took a sharp inhale at the intensity of those eyes. "Do I know you?" The voice asked, and made Akila remember that there was a person trying to talk to her. Akila took a better look and noticed it was the boy that had looked at her one the way to school. She licked her lips and shook her head. She was too startled and nervous to really say anything to him.

"N..no. I...I just…" She was interrupted by the same brunette girl that had stolen his attention earlier. This girl was a bit taller then the boy, and she made her school uniform look like it was made for her. She was pretty for sure, and Akila wouldn't be surprised if the two were a couple. He was a handsome guy, who made himself look taller then he was by his confidence and his posture.

"Atem, we should probably be taking our seats." It was then the brunette looked at Akila, sizing her up. It was clear on her face that she had already made up her mind if Akila was worth her time or not, and Akila wasn't someone on her radar. It was then that Akila realized that they had gained the attention of the other members of their apparent group. The shorter, shy looking boy, that looked familiar to her, and two guys that looked like they thought they were tough, but were probably all talk. This wasn't really how she wanted to start her day, being the center of attention. At the moment she felt like she was on display at the zoo. Everyone trying to get as close as they could to see the new piece of meat.

Finally, Akila learned the meaning of the phrase '_saved by the bel_l' meant. The final bell that signaled the start of class rang, and the teacher that told her to wait in the corner walked back into the class room with a coffee thermos in her one hand and a stack of papers jammed under her other arm.

"Okay class, before we start today, I want you to meet a new student." The teacher looked around the room, as if she forgot where she had Akila stand before class. Taking her cue, Akila shuffled her way to the teacher's side with a sigh. Looking around at the other students in the class, her gaze once again found the crimson eyes that seemed to have been searching her once again. He seemed confused, probably contemplating the question he asked before the bell rang. That right there confused her too. Why would he think they had met before? It wasn't too long that she felt the tug of someone else staring at her, making it too hard for her not to look away. On the other side of the class room, the brunette was glaring at her, apparently she noticed the attention she was giving her boyfriend, or the attention her boyfriend was giving her.

"This is…" The teacher trailed off as she looked at her paper. Akila smiled and shook her head, knowing what the problem was.

"Akila Mubarak." She smiled at the teacher, and then looked at the students clearly uninterested faces. "It's Egyptian…." She said, not noticing two of the people in the classroom perk up slightly. Akila chuckled, self consciously, finding a spot on the floor that she suddenly found interesting. The teacher looked at her with a look that told Akila that she didn't really care for the help in pronunciation, but appreciated it for later. She then started scanning the room.

"Ah, well, Ms. Mu..barak? Go ahead and have a seat next to Mr. Motou over there." Akila's head popped up there and locked eyes with a pair of amethyst ones.

"Yugi…Motou?" She muttered, now noticing the stares of her classmates and the now slightly confused, and terrified Yugi. With a blush and a few giggles from the other students, she found her way back to her desk, slinking in low in her chair, groaning that her mental gasp of surprise was heard by her class.

In the desk next to Yugi sat Atem, who leaned over to see past his partner at the girl that had suddenly sparked interest in himself but also Yugi.

_//Do you know her, Aibou?// _Atem chimed over, ignoring what the teacher was talking about. Yugi shook his head, partially forgetting they were talking through their mind link and if anyone had noticed would have thought he was odd.

_//Never seen her before…but she seems to know me…// _Yugi looked over at the girl who was oddly close to her notebook. Yugi was surprised to see someone who wanted to shrink into the shadows like he used to before he gained friends. He thought about it, it had to be rough to be in a new place. It was obvious she wasn't from around here. As he watched her, he started to notice frustration written on her face. He glanced at her note pad and noticed something that made him chuckle to himself, quietly enough that he wouldn't get her attention. _//She is having trouble writing in Japanese…I think shes writing in Arabic.//_

Atem was slight confused by the sudden observation by Yugi

_//copying now?//_ Yugi resisted the urge to chuckle and shake his head.

_//Of course not, no. I was just noticing she was having trouble with her Japanese is all. Obviously she just moved to Japan not long ago.// _Atem looked more confused. What did that have to do with anything?_ //as apposed to moving from a different part of Japan. Unless you saw her in Cairo last year, then you haven't met her before, and even if that is the case, it would have just been in passing. That's all. We're too paranoid.//_ Yugi said, shaking off the feeling that something was going to happen. It must have been a feeling that was coming off Atem because as he brushed off his worry, he still felt something coming from him._ //If you're worried about something, talk to her during lunch.//_ He suggested, trying to get Atem's distracting thoughts and confusion out of his mind so he could concentrate on what the teacher was saying.

_//Right, sorry Aibou.// _Atem said noticing Yugi's urgency when it came to getting back to the lesson.

* * *

When the bell rang signaling for lunch, Akila waited for the teacher to dismiss them. She remembered getting yelled at so many times in New York by teachers. 'The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do!' She remembered with a chuckling to herself wondering how her friends were doing. She would have called them, but considering the time difference it would be tough to. She would have to remember to send them an email when she got home. When she noticed that the class room was clearing out, she figured it was safe to get up and walked out to her locker to grab her lunch, and a book she was reading during her spare time. She walked into the lunch room and sighed at the loud noise of the other students in a room that looked like it was built to echo. It was crowded in there, no empty tables to sit at alone and she didn't feel like going through the awkwardness of inviting herself to a table full of people. She had enough awkwardness for today. She would tackle that at a later date. She walked outside where there were more table set up, all that were full as well. At one table, she noticed the group of friends that were in her class, the one with Yugi Motou in it. She bit her lip and blushed when the two look a likes looked towards her. Accepting the fact that she was too chicken to say anything she walked over to a near by tree and sat down, opening her book up and eating a sandwich her mom had made her. As she was focusing on her book, forgetting every now and then about her lunch, a pair of black books appeared in her view over the top of her book. She looked up to find that strange boy from earlier staring at her once again. She went back to reading her book, trying to ignore him. She didn't really like being stared at, feeling like a freak. Though, he didn't take the hint, and continued to stand there.

"You know it's rude to stare…" She said, irritated, but trying to keep her mind on her book.

"How do you know Yugi?" he said bluntly, making Akila blush.

"Hi, my names Akila, what's yours?" She said sarcastically, again commenting on his rudeness. She closed her book and looked up at him, knowing she wasn't going to be reading any more any time soon. She looked up at Atem while taking a bite of her sandwich, waiting for an answer before she would even consider answering him.

"Excuse me, my name is Atem. Now how do you know Yugi?" Akila sighed, and started to dig in her backpack for a moment, after eating the last bit of sandwich. After a few grumbled fill seconds of rummaging through her bag she grabbed a magazine and stood up face to face with Atem.

"_…Yugi manages to summon both Slifer and Obelisk to attempt to win, but Marik manages to complete his Immortality strategy, locking down Yugi's attacks by combining Egyptian God Slim with Jam Defender before reviving Monster Reborn and using it to summon his Winged Dragon of Ra. The Duel ultimately culminates and concludes with the destruction of Ra, and Marik forfeits the Duel to Yugi.._."

She smiled and looked at Atem before he handed him the magazine. He looked at the picture of_ 'Yugi'_ by the article and realized that he could see himself in the image as well.

"So you play duel monsters…" Atem assumed handing her back the magazine. Akila smiled and giggled lightly.

"Between choir and band practices I had no time to play Duel monsters. No, I'm just a fan. Ever since I heard about his win again the infamous Seto Kaiba, I had to follow him." She stopped suddenly and realized what she said could sound a bit strange. "Followed up on his dueling of course." She said, laughing at herself in hopes to disguise her embarrassment. "Any, I never imagine that I would ever meet Yugi, let alone be in the same class room as him. That was just a star struck moment." She said biting her lip lightly before getting a glimpse at Yugi at the table behind Atem. She was sure he constantly got fans running up to him all the time, and she didn't want to seem like some crazed fan.

"Would you want to meet him?" Atem asked kind of confused with her reaction. He knew she saw Yugi this morning during the walk. It is kind of hard to miss Yugi, with his hair and all. But he just brushed it off as her not thinking she would ever see Yugi in person.

Akila looked at Atem shocked. She really did want to meet Yugi, but she was kind of shy. Her mind was running a mile a minute trying to think of something to say to him that didn't make her seem like another blubbering fool.

"No, I couldn't…" She said instantly kicking herself, as she looked back over at the table and then back at Atem, sucking in her breath from anticipation. "Could I?" She finally saying, standing on her tippy toes since her stomach felt like it was trying to jump out of her from excitement. Atem nodded and Akila let out a small squeal before she grabbed all her books.

As she walked with Atem over to the table of laughing teenagers, focusing more on the dueling idol then on the brunette who was glaring at her. Akila figured she was one of those over protective, jealous kind of girl. If she didn't know you or like you, you better not be anywhere close to her man, or anyone she knows for that matter. On one hand it was slightly annoying considering this girl didn't know her and if she did she would know she wasn't a threat of any kind. However, on the flip side, Akila knew she was just being protective of her friends. It must be nice that her friends could count on her.

"Yugi, there is someone that would like to meet you." Atem said, bring Akila out of her thoughts as she gripped her magazine in her arms tight. Yugi looked at her curiously. Someone wanted to meet him? He wasn't too used to this concept, since it wasn't long ago that he was everyone punching bag and no one in his class even knew he existed or cared. He looked at Akila and smiled before looking at Atem. He could sense that the other was really curious about the girl, and figured Yugi would be a good way to get to know the girl.

_//You're insane, aren't you?//_ Yugi asked, kind of feeling like a pawn in the Pharaoh's game. Atem could feel the irritation from Yugi, and smiled some what guilty.

_//I am curious, but she's a fan of yours. I'm just trying to be nice.//_ Yugi sighed and looked at Akila with a smile.

"You play duel monsters?" Yugi asked, determined to talk to Atem more later on. He hated being put on the spot like this?

Akila shook her head and relaxed slightly knowing that Yugi was a nice guy.

"No, no. I never really had enough time to get good at the game. I used to be in choir and band at my old school, and it took a lot of my time." She said, still managing to smile even though a pang of nostalgia ran through her. "My friend actually got me into following tournaments. He was a fan of Seto Kaiba and he couldn't shut up about how 'some no named shrimp' beat him…" She looked up at Yugi and paniked. "He was a big fan..." She said trying to cover up what was said. "Any way, then I heard you were going to duelist kingdom, and I figured if you could beat Seto Kaiba, then it might be interesting to see how you did, and then after that its just history…"

"You like to sing?" The brunette chimed in, calming down slightly. Akila smiled a bit, feeling like the tense atmosphere was slowly fading,

"Yea, I've been singing most of my life. I do a little bit of dancing to, but mainly to the extent of crazy embarrassing dancing in my bedroom alone and DDR at the arcade." Atem and Yugi looked at the brunette and smiled, before remembering something.

"Oh you haven't been introduced to everyone yet." Akila smiled lightly. "Well, the darker look alike behind you is Atem, I'm sure he's introduced himself already. He's my cousin who just moved over from Egypt…" Akila's eyes widened slightly and looked back at the crimson eyed boy who just nodded at him. "And this is Joey and Tristan." Yugi said signaling to the blonde and brunette tough guys still stuffing their faces with their lunch

"And I'm Tea!" Tea blurted out suddenly. Akila could already tell that the girl had a slight control issue, but really what girl didn't?

"I'm Akila, nice to meet you all." Akila said before he felt Atem nudge her forward a little

"Why don't you join us?" He offered and Tea and Yugi slid over a bit to give Akila some room to sit. She smiled, and gladly joined. She put her book and magazine back in her backpack and pulled out her lunch once again, ready to finish up what was left of her lunch which consisted of an apple and a bag of cookies. The same kind of bagged lunch she was packed since she was a kid.

"So, you said you play DDR. Are you doing anything tonight? I have to play against you." Tea said, with an almost scary smirk and twinkle of determination in her eyes, it was almost frightening.

"Tea is a dancer." Atem quickly explained from across the table. Akila mouthed _'ooh_' in understanding before she sighed.

"I actually am helping my father at the Domino Museum today." Everyone looked up, kind of shocked and confused. Akila was a bit taken aback by this. "Um, my dad just got a job there, that's why we moved here. He got the okay from his boss to let me kind of shadow him a bit on his latest project. You see I want to be an archeologist when I get older." She said, still feeling the awkward tension from the earlier statement that she was going to the museum.

"Who's your father's boss?" Atem asked

"A woman named Ishizu Ishtar, she is the person behind the Ancient Egypt exhibit." She said, still wondering what was so shocking here, but she really didn't want to ask. "But anyway, if you aren't doing anything this weekend, we could have our DDR match then?" She suggested. Tea looked at her and smile.

"You're on!" She said before she pulled out her cell phone. "What's your number?" Akila pulled out her phone as well and collected Tea's number before the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period.

"Well, I guess I should be getting back to class, later guys!" Akila said before she grabbed all her things and rushed into the building, leaving the three teenagers, who weren't more worried about stuffing their faces, looking at each other.

"Okay, now I know something's going on." Yugi said, Tea giving him a confused look. Atem sighed and nodded.

"You've been talking to each other with your mind link again, haven't you?" Tea asked confused.

"I saw her on our way to school. I don't know why she got my attention, but I felt something oddly familiar about her. Like someone I knew long ago." Tea looked at Atem and Yugi a little irritated.

"With your history, you thought to leave something like this out?" She said, sounding like a concerned mother, but Atem and Yugi knew that she was right. With their past for attracting trouble, if there was something fishy about anything, there was probably a reason for it.

"What should we do about it?" Yugi asked, looking at Atem worried. "I mean, shouldn't you remember her if you did know her in the past? We got your memories back when we visited Egypt." Atem sighed and shook his head.

"I don't think so, there is a gap missing in my memory. I figured it would just come back over time, but I'm not sure anymore." Yugi and Tea looked at each other worried. Every time something concerned Atem's past, trouble wasn't far behind. "Maybe this time is different, perhaps there isn't some great evil coming for us. After all the items are gone, there isn't anything to take, the magic should be gone." Atem was slightly disappointed. If this was a sign of another evil coming back then perhaps his choice to stay in the mortal realm was a mistake. He couldn't bear the guilt of causing his friends anymore hardship.

"Well, what ever this is, we will be there for you Atem, you know that, and there isn't anything you can say that will stop us." Tea said with Yugi next to her smiling, reassuring him.

"Well, whatever this is, I have a feeling that Ishizu knows something about it. I highly doubt that Akila's father just happening to work for her, Ishizu allowing a teenager work with ancient artifacts, and this apparent feeling that we knew each other at one time all a coincidence."

"Well we can't barge in there when Akila's there and start asking questions. If she doesn't know anything at all it could cause some issues, bring up unnecessary questions, like how a five thousand year old Pharaoh is living in our time." Yugi said, Tea's expression obviously meant that she agreed with him. "And if she did know something…well it could just end badly. We should just take our time. Keep an eye on her."

Tea nodded, she looked as if she just got struck with an idea, and looked at Yugi with a devilish smirk. Yugi didn't like that look, it usually ended with him doing something he didn't want to do. "Hey Yugi, why don't you take her to homecoming; after all, she is your fan and all." Yugi just let out a blush that ran down his nose, through his cheeks, surrounded his lips and ran down his neck. The idea of asking a girl to anything was a terrifying thought.

"Why can't Atem ask her, he's the one that's interested in her?" Yugi said, something that irritated Tea a bit, the idea of another girl going to homecoming with Atem. She had to admit this plan was partially a plot to get Atem to go with her.

"Well, we don't know if she'd accept going with him. We know she'll say yes to you, Mr. Celebrity. I'll be Atem's date, at least that way we can keep a bit of controlled distance between them in case she is after something." Tea said in a smug like tone, knowing she had a brilliant plan.

"She's right Aibou. We should do it. What do you say?" Atem said, hating himself for this. He knew how Yugi felt about Tea, and he knew that Tea's feeling for him were hurting Yugi, but she had a good point.

_//Yugi, I hate doing this to you, but she is right.//_ Yugi nodded his answer and let out a sigh.

"Alright, I'll do it."

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_**Author:** And there we go, the longest chapter I've written. I hope my sudden flip in Tea's behavior wasn't too confusing. I am kinda hoping it isn't as bad as I think. I'm not a Tea basher. Her behavior is purely a mama bear type deal…with a slight hidden agenda when it comes to Atem of course. Any way, please keep the replies coming! I wanna know how I'm doing. I'm kind of excited about this one._


	4. Why You So Obsessed With Me?

_**Disclaimer**__: I do not own Yugioh or the songs that I use in my fiction. I am simply borrowing them from their owners to express my creative thoughts, and give full credit to them 100%_

**Authors note**: _As you have undoubtedly seen, there is music involved with this story. And I'm hopeful that you have seen I am making a back story for Akila which shows the importance of music to her. So being as music is important to the story there will be times where song lyrics magically find their way into the story as you saw in chapter one with "Running Up That Hill". Remember this is not a song fic. But I do find it appropriate to have titles about the songs that might find their way into the chapter or merely be based off it. 'Tis my rant, please enjoy_.

_I have to give a shout out to tavia454 for inspiring me to write again. Your work is amazing, keep it up._

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**Why You So Obsessed With Me?**

'_Humming, that's all they have been for the last few nights since I've started school'_ Akila thought to herself as she looked in the mirror at herself. The first night of just humming didn't bother her; it was when the humming became a reoccurring theme in her dreams that she started thinking about them more. She had even found herself humming the tune out of no where. She found it odd that only one person seemed to notice her when she was doing it. In the middle of class, or lunch, or where ever she would be doing it at, she would get the feeling of being watched, and when she looked over there he was, staring at her with his exotic crimson eyes. Yes, exotic even to her. She had never seen eyes like his ever in her life. Akila had become interested in her superstar's cousin as of late, and she had notice that he was curious about her as well. She had caught him many times doing the same thing she was doing to him, trying to read into her like there was some secret that he was hiding. Of course it didn't help that he was looking at her the exact same way and it was unnerving. After that first day and seemingly warm welcome, that whole group seemed to treat her like there was something wrong with her, like they were guarding themselves from her.

She splashed her face with cold water to wash away all the rambling in her head and the uneasy feelings she had bubbling in her stomach. Today was the day the group was supposed to meet her for a DDR match. That Tea girl seemed to be trying to prove her dominance when it came to females in the group.

The idea had been tossed around for them to just go to Akila's house for this match, an idea Tea wasn't too thrilled by originally, probably because she couldn't show off in front of a big crowd. However, the promise of movies and pizza afterwards was thrown into the mix seemed to seal the deal. It was even a bonus that her parents were not going to be around either; they had some sort of job to work on over the weekend that would keep them away. That morning, Akila had found a note on the refrigerator with a fifty dollar bill attached.

'_Akila, Have fun with your friends this weekend. Love Mom and Dad'_ it made her chuckle lightly as she ran her mothers handwriting. They were obviously relieved that she wouldn't be alone during the weekend. So now she was standing in her bathroom putting on make up for once and thinking about what to wear. Today was like the first time she would be meeting them as herself. When they first met, she was hiding behind her books and reading glasses and school uniform, but now it was time for them to really meet her. She wouldn't have to worry about her hair much; it was naturally wavy and nice looking. It was very rare that it would rebel on her and curl in the wrong way and she'd have to bust out her thick curling iron to make it obey he, but that wasn't the case today. She walked back into her bedroom and turned on her stereo to calm her nerves. She waited until the music started before she got back to work, bouncing around her room enjoying the fun fast beat of the music as her movement seemed to bounce her stress away. In the end she ended up wearing a yellow top with off the shoulder sleeves and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and ran outside with her guitar that she loved so much, forgetting or not caring to turn off her stereo. After all she was the only one in the house today and she loved music, so what better way to enter her house when she was done with more up beat sounds.

Once she shut her front door, it hit her; she had lost herself in the music once again. She stepped outside in the foreign sounds of Domino city and sighed. This wasn't helping much; it was just a reminder of the impending arrival of her friends that made her feel like a suspect in a police investigation then the new kid on the block. They were interested in her, but it didn't seem in the way she wanted them to be.

She walked to the end of her yard, and perched herself on top of the low wall bordering between her yard and the sidewalk on the other side of it, pulling her guitar onto her lap, tuning it a little. This was something she liked to do to make herself feel better. She loved singing, and playing her own music. It was therapeutic in a way. She figured out a while ago that musicians have this uncanny ability to express her feelings better then she could. So she learned how to play songs on her guitar and the family piano to get away from it all. It was an easy way to keep her parents from asking too many questions too. After all, they weren't her songs that she would sing loud enough that everyone could hear, they belonged to people like Sheryl Crow, or Taylor Swift, or whoever sparked her interest at the time.

Akila closed her eyes and took a quick breath as she ran through her mind's playlist of good guitar songs for her feelings of frustration.

"_I've been long, a long way from here. Put on a poncho, played for mosquitoes, and drank till I was thirsty again. We went searching through thrift store jungles, found Geronimo's rifle, Marilyn's shampoo, and Benny Goodman's corset and pen. Well, o.k. I made this up. I promised you I'd never give up. If it makes you happy…_"

There it was again, that feeling of being watched, observed. She held her breath for a moment before opening her eyes to find those oh so familiar crimson ones staring back at her with interest. She quick exhaled and rolled her eyes.

"You're early, where are the others?" She asked, irritated that her moment with her and her guitar were ruined. Though, she was surprised to find him alone. She was even more surprised that Yugi wasn't standing beside him. Atem just shrugged his shoulders and leaned on the wall beside her.

"They are at the store down the street from the Game Shop to get a few snacks and then they are going to the movie store to rent some movies or something. It took me a little longer to get out of bed this morning, so they left without me so I figured I'd head up here early to hang out." It was a daring move on Atem's part, and he knew Yugi would kill him when he finally realized what Atem was trying to pull, but he just wanted to get to know Akila for some reason. The group had been trying so hard over the week to guard him, and succeeding that it was a little irritating. He could sense things about people, and he didn't sense anything evil or malicious about her and found no reason to not trust her if only a little bit. "So I knew you like to sing, but I didn't realize you liked to play as well." He said. He had enjoyed the short lived song she had started singing before his burning stare broke her concentration. She had a nice voice, almost hypnotic to listen to.

As if reading his mind, or just wanting to ignore him, Akila started to play her guitar again from where she left off. "If it makes you happy it can't be that bad. If it makes you happy then why the hell are you so sad?" Once Akila was finished, she sat there playing a tune on her guitar, nothing in particular, just whatever sounded nice to her while thinking about what to say to this boy who had his eyes on her all week long now that they were alone.

"So, why didn't you just catch up with your girlfriend?" She asked her idle playing turning into the tune that had been stuck in her head for the last few days, without her realizing it. Atem quickly noticed the change and then looked up at her, noting that Akila didn't notice what was going on.

"Tea and I aren't going out."

"Huh, she keeps talking about how you two are going to homecoming together…" She said, smiling at him a bit. "Yugi asked me to go with him, didn't really seem to into the idea. I figure it was more of a pity thing. I'm the new girl in school, why would I want to go to homecoming, right?" Atem chuckled. Yugi's acting wasn't that good, or Akila was really perceptive when it came to peoples feelings.

"Are you going with him?" Atem asked, surprised that Yugi didn't mentioned anything to him about it.

"I told him to ask Tea. He seems to really want to go with her instead of me." Atem was a little startled about how Akila figured out Yugi's feelings. He was sure the he was the only one who knew about it. Akila looked at Atem and took his expression completely differently.

"Don't tell me he doesn't like her…." She said, stopping her playing, feeling like the worst person in the world. Yugi had asked her out and she just made an assumption. This was just great, her first week here and she royally messed up.

"No, no it's not that. He does like her. I'm just surprised he told you." Akila shook her head, confused.

"I figured everyone knew. It's kind of obvious. He looks sad whenever she flirts with you." Atem sighed. He hated how Yugi hurt because of him. He really didn't like Tea in that way, and the girl wouldn't take a hint. He figured it was partially because he knew of Yugi's feelings towards her, or the fact that she was really pushy. He admired her for her strong will, but some times it was unappealing how she just fell all over him without considering his feelings, or Yugi's

"Why would you tell Yugi to ask Tea to homecoming when you thought we were going as a couple?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. Was she trying to start something within the group? Akila looked at him and sighed. There were those judging eyes she saw whenever she happened to say or do something just slightly wrong. She shook her head.

"At least he wouldn't have any regret. At least he would have tried. At least he wouldn't be playing the 'what if' game with himself. Personally I hope she tells him yes. It seems to be really bothering him that she doesn't see him in that kind of way" She said shrugging before jumping off the wall and looking at her crimsoned eyed guest, leaning her guitar against the wall. "We should go to homecoming together…" Atem went wide eyed at the comment before Akila started laughing. "I'm joking. I don't even know if I am going to homecoming anyway." She grabbed her guitar and smiled. "Come on, lets go inside while we wait for the others. You can help me set up the DDR stuff before the show up." She smiled nicely and it eased Atem's mind a bit. He couldn't sense anything evil coming from her, but he did sense a familiar warmth from her that seemed to comfort him even when he should have been on his guard.

"Do you ever write your own songs?" Atem asked making Akila smile back at him as she waited to see if he was going to see if he was going to come inside instead of acting like a vampire who had to be invited in.

"I did once, but then I keep hearing these songs on the radio and they are so fun to play and to sing I just kind of got writers block from it." She said as she opened the front door, the music she left on still booming from the inside. "Come on, I wont bite." She said before she disappeared into the house. Atem was cautious as he stepped into the unfamiliar house. It was a lot different from the Game Shop, bigger. "Over here!" Akila's voice called from the other side of the entrance way. He saw a set of stairs with Akila mid way up them. "All the stuff for the game is in my room" Atem followed her into her bed room. He was a little stand offish considering it was usually considered improper to be in a girl's room alone, but Akila didn't seem to care at all. She was to busy unhooking her game system from her TV to notice his discomfort. Waiting for instructions from her, Atem decided to look around. Her room wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was a big room, a small entertainment center for her games and TV with a shelving area to the side that seemed to hold some DVDs. She had a nice sized bed with a white comforter that had flowers scattered across. She had a desk and an electric keyboard. She also had a guitar holder next to that that held the guitar she was playing on a few minutes ago.

"Do you mind turning off my stereo?" She yelled, noticing that the music was a little to loud for company over. She had it so loud to start with to kind of blast away her uneasy thoughts before. Atem nodded before heading towards the source of the music. On her dresser she had a nice sized stereo that she obviously had on full blast considering the crackling sound it made once you got up close to it. He was nice enough to lower the volume before he clicked the power button off so when she started it up again she wouldn't get blasted, forgetting how loud it was the last time she used it. There was something else on the dresser that caught his eyes, a photo in a frame. The picture was obviously taken in Egypt considering the giant statue in the back ground, the Sphinx. However, in the foreground, there was a family of three. The mother and father, the women tall and slender with long hair that looked very similar to Akila's and a slightly shorter man that had the same sticking golden eyes that Atem noticed on her first day of school, Akila had. In front of them was a small girl that looked like a perfect mixture of the two of them.

"Are these your parents?" Atem asked with a slight smile. Akila turned to look at him and then the picture; a slightly startled expression crossed her face for a moment before she recovered before Atem noticed. She nodded before collecting wires and the game system.

"Hey do you mind grabbing the pads over here?" She asked, kind of pointing at the folded up pads in the bottom of her entertainment center. You wouldn't be able to tell what they were unless you were told. Atem nodded, putting the picture down and helping her with the task she assigned him. "I'll just set this up in the entertainment room and we can wait until the others get here." She said as she started the simple task of setting up the game console. Once she was finished and she and Atem set up the two dance pads, Akila sat down on the sofa next to Atem and handed him the remote. "You're my guest, you get dibs on what we watch" She smiled, finally glad to get to talk to this guy who seemed to be always watching her. Atem grabbed the remote and turned to the channel that Yugi seemed to watch all the time, Cartoon Network, considering he really didn't know any better. "So is there any reason you guys all seem guarded around me? You guys say I'm your friend, as much of a friend as the new girl in town can be at least, but you guys always seem, I don't know, afraid or something." Atem looked at her for a moment, noticing the slightly saddened look on her face. They weren't doing a very good job of hiding their suspicions about her. He sighed before smiling at her.

"Yugi is a big star now, you know. We just want to make sure that no one intends to hurt him or anything" He lied, not really liking the idea of it, but how was he supposed to explain the whole situation to start with. That was the last thing he really needed, to drag in another innocent person into his problems. Akila could sense there was something she wasn't being told, but didn't feel like she should press the issue too much.

"So, you're from Egypt too?" She asked, liking the fact that she had something in common with him and that she would have someone to related to if only a little. He nodded kind of killing the conversation she was trying to make. She sighed before she tucked her knees into her chest, deciding to watch the television in the very uncomfortable, awkward silence that was really starting to bug her. Unfortunately, her mind couldn't help but wonder. _'Why does it seem like he's always watching me? Why does he seem to ask me so many stupid questions but doesn't say anything about himself?_ _Why do I even care so freaking much?'_ she kept asking herself, grinding her teeth in her frustration. She wasn't that much of a freak that she could be treated like a fish in an aquarium.

"Are you uncomfortable around me?" Atem asked, causing Akila to jump, not realizing how deep in thought she really was. She shook her head, still focused on the television. "I can tell when someone isn't being honest with me." She said, making Akila sigh. He smirked knowing she would give into his question.

"Why are you always watching me?" She asked simply, looking at him with saddened eyes, catching Atem completely off guard himself. "I mean, you're fascinating to me, but I don't always watching you. I can feel your eyes on me during class or when I walk into class or whenever you notice me around. I feel like an ant under a microscope. If there is something you want to know, just ask me, and please stop watching me." She said finally bursting at the seams from her frustrations.

"I'm sorry, I just feel like I know you from somewhere, but I can't place my finger on where and it's frustrating. I tend to focus so much on something I can't figure out that I don't realize exactly what I'm doing. I apologize if I make you uneasy. I can go outside and wait with the others if you wish." He offered, and it made Akila smile. It wasn't very often now-a-days that someone was this polite.

"Sometimes, you act older then you are, wiser." She said, not really meaning to say that out loud, and blushing when she realized what exactly she said. Atem looked at her with a smile. It was true, he felt something very familiar and comforting about her. He had no doubt in his mind that she had something to do with his past. Though, the only issue would be, if she happened to be a reincarnation of this person in his past, she would have no memory of him. It was a saddening thought, someone connected with his past, which could understand him or help him understand himself, would have no idea how significant they are. Atem placed his hand on her cheek, rubbing gently around the blush that was now growing around her face. Akila gasped in surprised, but she couldn't move away from him and it scared her more. For some reason she was frozen in place. Something in her didn't want her to move. She looked up at Atem, who seemed lost in his thoughts to realize what was going on. "Atem, what's on your mind?" she asked softly, placing her hand on his, griping it in hopes of moving it off her. It was only then that she noticed a familiar sent that came from him. She didn't know why she was taking such an interest in how he smelt, but she wondered if it had something to do with the reason she couldn't move as well. '_It's adrenalin_.' She reasoned with herself, after all what else could it be? The two of them just sat there in some kind of daze, one lost in his thoughts, trying to place this familiar girl in his life, and the other one dizzy by the strangely familiar scent that came from the other and the confusion about his behavior. After another moment or two, Atem seemed to come out of his haze and stared at the confused looking girl in front of him who seemed to have a hold on his hand.

"I'm sorry." He muttered lightly as he looked into her eyes, seeing how confused she was. He noticed the bright red blush that tinted her bronze skin and she slightly parted lips, hearing her heavy breathing. This was a mistake, he shouldn't be alone with her, something was going on and he wasn't sure what it was. He went to pull his hand off her cheek when he felt her hand give a slight squeeze as if not really wanting him to let go, but logic kicked in and made her release him.

"What's happening to me?" She asked, slightly scared by the things going on as of late and now this. The dreams, the song, the need to sing more then she had before, the need to know this guy in front of her. "Who are you?" Atem stared startled at the question. So he wasn't the only one who felt that. That was it; he was going to have to go to see Ishizu, the only person who seemed to know everything about him

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**Author's Note**: Ok, so its not the best chapter, I know. So **Sheryl Crow's** "_If It Makes You Happy_" made an appearance in this chapter, awesome song. Akila's past is starting to make an appearance each time she and Atem hang out. Lets just hope that the groups attempt to protect Atem doesn't back fire on them.


	5. Knock Me Down

_**Disclaimer**__: I do not own Yugioh or any songs I may use in my fanfic_.

_**Authors Note**__: Ok, so anyone up for a challenge? I want to see how my OC would look on paper, so any artists out there willing to draw her in anyway you wish, be it Egyptian or modern days, with Atem or Yugi, WHATEVER! I want to see what you think she would look like. I don't really have any cool prizes or anything, but all pictures I will cycle through my Avatar on and I will link to all entries on my profile! Thanks for reading and I hope you all have fun with it! Go Nuts!!!_

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**Knock Me Down**

The door bell rang, scaring Akila out of her terrified trance. She jumped off the couch they had been sitting on together, and walked briskly to the front door, trying to clear her head before she met up with the rest of her guests. When she got to the front door, she took a deep breath and let out a sigh, before plastering a smile on her face.

"Hey guys!" She was greeted by Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan holding bags of chips and boxes of sodas and even a six pack of bottled sodas. Joey and Tristan also had a little bit of an extra load. Apparently they brought a few movies from their houses and even went by a movie store. "How many people are coming?" She asked; a little overwhelmed with everything they had in their hands. Yugi and Tea just let out a giggle as the two other boys in the back seemed to have a very proud grin on their faces.

"We didn't want them to eat you out of house and home, so we bought extra." Tea said as she started the group's line to enter the big house. As each filed in, they all looked around, jaws on the ground in amazement.

"Before you ask, we're not rich. It came with my dad's job." She said with a blush as she shut the front door. She figured they would have noticed the giant house on the outside, but apparently not. Though, she did have to admit that when she first was shown the house herself, she was pretty amazed by the inside.

"Hey, has Atem come by? He was getting ready when I left with the others, but when I called my grandpa he said he had left" Yugi asked, the first to seemed to knock himself from the pure awe the others were still suffering from.

"I'm right here, Aibou. I'm sorry I slept in this morning, but I figured I'd at least come by and see if Akila needed any help with anything before you guys showed up." Atem said showing up seemingly out of no where, hands jammed in his pockets. Yugi looked at him slightly disapproving at first, but the look quickly disappeared before anyone, aside from his darker half, noticed.

"We'll, come on; let's bring all this to the kitchen!" Akila said, feeling some sort of tension starting to form in the group. She grabbed the bags that Yugi held onto and signaled for the others to follow along. As the others followed Akila to the kitchen, Yugi just looked at Atem for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Whoa! This is a huge kitchen!"

"We got all this stuff so you wouldn't raid her kitchen!"

"I didn't say we were going to raid it, I just said it was big!"

Tea and Joey's argument was all the two could hear from the entry way of the house before the two look a likes decided to speak.

"You shut me out, Atem." Yugi said, hurt before Atem let out a sigh. He didn't mean to make Yugi worry, but he just wanted to have some alone time with Akila to size up the threat everyone thought she was, and that was all.

"Yugi, it was not my intention to hurt you or to worry you. I simply came by to check her out on my own. You're very perceptive of people, and even you couldn't see that she wasn't acting like herself during school. She was shielded. She's not a threat, Yugi. We can trust her, I promise you." Yugi opened his mouth to argue, but he let out a sigh. He knew his friend knew what he was doing. After all he did have a few thousand years of wisdom on him. He smiled and shook his head, sometimes he thought the Pharaoh was too trusting, but he was smart and strategic and wouldn't do anything without a plan.

"I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into." Yugi smiled encouraging. "So I asked Akila to the dance." Atem let out a knowing sigh. "I'm guessing she told you." Atem nodded. "I took her advice." The Pharaoh looked up at Yugi, searching for signs that Tea had rejected him and he needed to be comforted, Tea was always a touchy subject with the two of them, Despite the fact that Atem wasn't interested in the girl, Yugi was still jealous of him because he held her attention. "After I told her what Akila said, she agreed to go as my date to homecoming. I think she finally got the message that you weren't interested in her." Atem chuckled. He didn't like hurting people's feelings, so he didn't really tell Tea straight out which caused all the issues between the three of them, but he was glad Yugi was finally getting his chance with the girl he was obviously head over heels in love with.

"That's good. I'm proud of you for finally telling her, Aibou." Yugi beamed at him, finally able to show how happy he was without looking like a dork to everyone else. It was nice that Atem and he shared the same body for so long; he didn't have to worry about hiding anything from the other. Their brotherly moment was cut short, however, when a crash was heard from the other room.

"Stop it!" Atem and Yugi heard Tea and Akila scream at the same time as they rushed off towards the kitchen. They were about to asked what was wrong when they took in the scene of the crime. Joey and Tristan stood there fighting over a bag of cheese puffs while Tea stood by Akila, who was holding the fifty dollar bill that had been on the refrigerator.

"Drop the bag before I decide that this fifty will go to something girly for Tea and I!" Joey and Tristan both swallowed hard at the thought of the missing pizza from their DDR and movie night, and slowly handed Tea the bag of cheese puffs. "Good, now take the movies into the other room, while Tea and I handle the food." Akila said, taking charge or the situation. Atem and Yugi looked shocked at how well Akila was able to hold her own against the toy food obsessed boys. They were just so used to Tea being the only one who could handle them. They heard the two mutter their 'yessir' and grabbed the bags of movies before they slinked into the main room like dogs with their tails tucked between their legs. Once they left, Akila let out a loud sigh before the two girls let out a loud laugh, leaving Yugi and Atem stunned.

"You get used to it, kind of." Tea said before she and Akila looked around for cupboards for big bowls to fill with chips and smaller ones for some dip they also bought. Atem stood their watching as the two girls seemed to be getting along. Akila's obvious perseverance to get them to accept her was obviously working. Akila felt his eyes on her once again, and swallowed hard before she turned around slowly with a blush. Atem mentally kicked himself for it. Obviously what happened earlier freaked her out; it freaked him out as well. He watched, though, how quickly she was able to hide her discomfort, and smiled at him.

"If you're just going to stand there, do you think you could put the sodas in the fridge real fast?" She asked real polite. Tea noticed the slight nervous tone she had, and looked back and forth between the two, knowing something happened between the two.

"Trust me, Atem is intimidating, but he's really nice." Tea whispered to her, Akila putting a smile back on her face once again. Once they were done filling up bowls of chips and dip and put the brownies and other sweet snakes on plates, Akila and Tea started to bring them out and piled them onto the coffee table that was in the main room in front of the DDR pads Atem and Akila had set up not long before then.

"I don't know about you, Tea, but I can't do DDR without a tank top, do you want to borrow one of mine?" She asked, her body turned slightly, ready to run upstairs at any moment. Tea smiled and shoot her head before she took off the fashion jacket she had been wearing, Akila figured it didn't do too well against the cold, to reveal a bright yellow cami. Akila smiled and then started to go up to her room, where she changed her shirt real quick and then went downstairs with the others again. "Alright, I think I'm ready for some dancing." She said as she stretched a little to loosen her legs up. At that the boys took the hit it was time to sit down and let the girls show off while they all munched on junk food, waiting for when they would be able to watch their action and slasher movies. Being two girls in a group of boys made it hard to convince them to slip a few girly movies in the mix.

As the game started, the boys started cheering for the girl they thought would win. Tristan and Yugi started cheering for Tea, saying how they have seen her crush even the greatest DDR players at the arcade, but Tristan seemed to be giving his support to Akila. Atem just sat their, not ready to choose who he thought would win before he saw more. It was true, Tea was great, and she was able to keep her balance while Johnny Steps was trying to cheat and trip her, but Akila was an unknown factor in this. He needed to see how she performed first before making his judgment.

The rounds went on for a while; having to go through a few songs considering both their scores were too close, usually only a few points below the other. It wasn't a good enough of a win for either of them. You would have thought that watching them play DDR for so long would eventually get boring to the boys, but the competitive spirit kept everyone pumped. Even Atem started to get into it, not like the others who were whooping and hollering, but by studying both of their steps and debating with himself who was better. Yugi kept looking at Atem, who kept leaking his mental debate through their link a few times before he closed it to shut out the noise. It had taken Yugi a moment to realize that the other wasn't talking to him.

At the end of one of the many songs, the two girls had to take a breather before starting the next one. Who ever said that girls don't sweat would have been proven wrong today as the two bent over to steady themselves as they caught their breath. Akila, who was getting tired of feeling her hair sticking to her face and neck from the sweat, put her hair up in a messy bun with the hair band she always kept around her wrist when she kept it down.

"You're good." Tea said in between breaths. Akila looked at her and smiled.

"You're not to bad yourself." She huffed as the two got back on their mats ready for the next song. It was Tea's turn to pick, and as any other competitor would have done, she picked the hardest song that she could think of that she could beat. Unfortunately for Akila, it happened to be Paranoia Hades Oni. It was the one song that she always tripped up on. Atem noticed the change in her confidence and sighed himself.

"I think this is the end." He muttered, making Akila grit her teeth and growl lightly. How could he just now chirp in about this competition? How dare he doubt her abilities? However, she knew he was right, this was the one song she had yet to master. This wasn't looking good. As the song started, she didn't have a problem keeping up with Tea, but she could feel the muscles in her legs burning from everything they were doing, she was so tired it felt like they didn't want to respond to her anymore, at least not fast enough. To her it seemed like the song would never end. She felt her exhaustion in her head, but she looked over and noticed Tea was feeling it too. All she had to do was keep it up to the end of the song. A stream of arrows started to go up the screen, to fast for her to even comprehend half of them. Her feet were trying to comprehend what her mind was trying to tell them, and in doing so, her feet made contact, making her fall back.

'Damnit' she cursed to herself as she fell backwards. The next thing she knew, she felt a hard thud on the back of her head and she heard multiple gasps all around her. She had hit her head on the coffee table behind her, and blacked out. A moment later, she started coming to. She heard everyone around her, yelling to get her to wake up; making the throbbing headache hurt more. "Ow" She squeaked as she put her hands on her head, eyes still closed, almost forgetting they were closed. She heard what sounded like Tea's voice, shushing the all of them.

"Akila, are you ok?" She heard a strong baritone voice ask her before she felt someone lift her up a little. She let out another groan as her head throbbed again. She let out another 'ow' as if trying to tell him 'no' she then heard a baritone chuckle and she sighed. She knew it was Atem's voice, but at the moment it was the only one that didn't make her head throb. She leaned into him a little, trying to feel more stable in his arms, catching once again the warm, familiar, comforting sent of spices that came off him. "_Husn_, are you ok?" Akila heard Atem's voice called once more, but the name he used was unfamiliar.

'_That's not my name…' _She thought to herself before she slowly opened her eyes. Atem looked at her, slightly startled. He had remembered her eyes being a hazel, almost honey golden color, but now they were like a lavender color, it had him startled, and he could see a shocked expression on Akila's face.

As she opened her eyes, Akila silently gasped. She was met by two crimson eyes, but everything else was different. Atem looked different, he was dressed different. For once thing, he had what looked like a gold crown with a weird looking eye in the center of it, and the cloth that she believed was his shirt she was holding, was a purple cloak that seemed to have flung over his shoulder in his rush to see if she was ok. In fact, he didn't seem to be wearing a shirt at all. Once she realized that he was shirtless, she let out a blush and then closed her eyes again

"Akila?" Atem started to shake her once she closed her eyes again, scaring him. He thought maybe she had hit her head harder then he thought. She had hit her head pretty hard, and he did feel the sticky warm liquid that felt like blood. It wasn't a lot, the normal amount for a bump to the head; the thing that worried him what her seeming lack in consciousness and coherency.

"Should I go call an ambulance?" Tea asked, not knowing what else to do. Akila wasn't coming to. However, when the word ambulance was mentioned, Akila started to shake her head and moaning. In unison, the whole group let out a sigh of relief. Akila put her hand on her head, where she could feel her head throbbing. She started to slowly sit up, still not having opened her eyes again, not wanting to see the hallucination again, because that might mean there was something actually wrong with her.

"Hey, slow down." Atem said softly as everyone around her seemed to be on their toes, making sure that Akila didn't get up too quickly, or fall back down. Once she sat up, she slowly opened her eyes, and started to look around her a bit, making sure she wasn't going insane, or hit her head harder then she thought. She sighed with relief when she saw she was in her house, and Atem was fully dressed in normal clothing. She then noticed techno music playing in the background, and looked up at the TV and saw the score on the song that they had been on. It was the first song where there was a significant difference between them. Tea had earned herself an "A+" while she had gotten a "B".

"Aw man, I lost." She said, earning herself a small chuckle from everyone around her. She had just fallen and cracked her head hard on the table behind her, and acted as if she had a concussion and she was worried about whether she won or lost their game of DDR? Atem and Tea looked at each other, not talking to each other, and Tea nodded at him before she stood up and walked to the kitchen, making her an ice pack for her head. Atem took the initiative and maneuvered himself in front of her and took her face in his hand, having her look at him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Atem asked softly, his eyes bearing deep into her. She was still a little startled with what happened when she opened her eyes the first time, that she was a little hesitant to open them a second time, however, she knew she had to open them up eventually. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking them a few times to focus her vision. She jumped lightly, noticing how close Atem really was.

"I'm fine. It's just a bump on the head." She said backing away from his hand before rubbing the back of her head lightly, feeling a small clump of matted hair from the small cut she had from hitting the table and the slight swelling around it. However, aside from that and the weird hallucination she felt fine.

A Moment later, Tea came back with a dishtowel wrapped icepack and handed it to her before disappearing in the background with the rest of the group, watching to make sure she was ok from a distance. Akila thanked her and put the icepack on, and watched everyone who was staring at her. Her fall had startled them, and it made her blush in embarrassment.

"I okay!" Akila finally blurted out before she started to laugh a little. For some reason she felt like a gold fish in a tank being watched for just doing what she does all the time. "I suppose I should have mentioned I'm a klutz." She then looked at the coffee table and found a spot on it that you wouldn't notice unless you looked really hard. It seemed that it had been covered up by a marker used to fix up marks on wood furniture. She smiled and pointed to it. "See, this isn't the first time I've fallen and hit the table." Everyone seemed to relax at the confession.

"What did you do that time?" Tea asked, getting closer to her. Akila seemed happy that Tea was trying to get close to her, trying to be her friend. At the beginning it didn't even seem like she was willing to learn anything about it. It must be a nice change for her to be around another girl for a change.

"I was running around getting ready for school, I had over slept that day and was rushing around trying to get ready and I tripped over my own two feet. I hit busted my lip and chipped my tooth." She then pointed to a spot under her bottom lip and everyone could see a light line on her skin from the scar. "No stitches, but a really big lip for a while and my parents had to get my tooth fixed." After everyone had a laugh and a chuckle, the mood seemed to light a bit in the room. "I think its time for pizza and movies."

Soon, the room became littered with soda cans, pizza boxes, and crumbs from chips all over the coffee table. The gang sat around the darkened living room watching various horror and slasher films. Akila and Tea were unable to convince any of the boys to allow them to have one movie that didn't have blood in it. Akila wasn't particularly happy with how many zombie films they ended up bringing over. The idea of the bodies of dead humans being reanimated into rotting cannibals terrified Akila, mainly because they seemed more likely to be real compared to vampires and werewolves. She did her best to quiet her screams when something popped out of no where, but it was really difficult for her. She could tell when the suspenseful scenes were coming up, and she could feel her body and mind prepare her for it, which made her jump.

Atem didn't really care much for the movies, he always felt detached from his friends considering the extreme differences in them, but he always enjoyed their company so doing what they wanted to and watching what they wanted to didn't ever bother him. However, as he was watching the movie and enjoying their company, he noticed someone who wasn't having so much fun. He noticed Akila curled on the sofa next to him, knees tucked to her chest, startled by the movie. He felt bad for her but could tell she wasn't going to say anything more about their movie choices. He could tell that she could tell when a battle was lost, but why she didn't mention the fact that she was afraid of this kind of movie scared her so much he didn't know. He was tempted to ask her if she was ok, but she decided right then to get up and start cleaning up the food on the table behind everyone, trying not to disturb them.

"Do you need help?" He whispered to him, noticing that everyone else was like the zombies on the television and didn't notice them. Akila looked up, slightly surprised that he was so easily pulled away from the movie she thought he was enjoying.

"It's not a big deal; I'm just not to these kinds of movies is all. I got it." She whispered as she dumped what was left of the chips into one bowl before stacking them into each other. She then stacked them on top of the pizza boxes and then carried them into the kitchen. She didn't notice that Atem was following behind her with the empty soda bottles tucked under his arms and empty disposable cups stacked together in his hands.

"Horror movies aren't your thing, are they?" Atem asked in the kitchen, making Akila jump. He didn't realize that she would still be so jumpy from a movie. She sat everything down so she wouldn't drop anything like she almost did and sighed.

"Zombie movies freak me out; they seem more likely to happen to me for some reason. I don't know why psycho murder movies don't scare me, because they do exist." She shrugged and chuckled to herself at the fact that slasher movies don't scare her like zombies did. She then looked at him, trying to figure him out. She didn't know why, but she felt that he was different then the others. To her she didn't really fit in as easily. He was more or less like the one piece of the puzzle that obviously didn't fit into the missing space, but you would try and jam it in anyway. Atem could feel her eyes bearing into him and wondered what she saw. He hadn't been here that long, but he never had anyone look so confused about his presence here like she did.

"So what do you like, Akila?" He asked, hoping to get her attention off her analysis of him for a moment. She shook her head, obviously taken off guard by his question.

"I like swimming, and I like reading about Egypt." A questioning look washed over Atem's features. "I know, it just seems like I'm just some nut who really loves her country or something, but it's not like that. Ever since I was little I've always have this fascination with Ancient Egypt. My par…" She paused for a second, her throat drying out at the saddening memory of her dead parents. "My parents used to take me to see the Sphinx all the time when I was little, and they would laugh because every time I went they said I act like I never saw it before." Atem picked up on the momentary lapse of emotion, again sizing her up just like she seemed to be doing to him. "But I also love music. I sing, used to sing in America. It was helpful to learn the language. Singing the lyrics and then having to read them helped me with my reading and writing." She explained to him. "My parents decided to give me a guitar for my birthday one year so I could write my own songs"

"Did you?" Akila smiled.

"I did once. It was a nice way to try and get some things off my shoulders."

"I'd like to hear it sometime." Akila just laughed to herself as she started throwing away the trash and putting the bowls in the sink to wash later on.

"I haven't sung it for anyone other then my parents. I don't think I'm really ready to play it for strangers just yet." She said defensively. She wasn't really ready to tell them that she was adopted. She made the mistake of telling people that when she first started school in New York and regretted it. She got treated as the poor adopted girl with the dead parents for the longest time, at least until she became last week's news to the social media.

"You seem guarded."

"You're one to talk." She blurted out suddenly, a flood of frustration flowed through her, catching Atem off guard. "Ever since I got here you've been watching me and your friends act like I'm a threat or something." Everything that she felt the last week rushed out of her so suddenly to the point where she gave a sigh of relief after she was done. "It's tough enough being ripped from my life to be moved to a different part of the world but then to be watched like some criminal is just frustrating." She raised her voice a bit before she looked into the other room to make sure she didn't raise the others attention. Atem stayed calm knowing she needed to get that off her chest.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. They have reasons to be slightly jumpy with new people. It's not your fault, and they are trying to accept you. You seem to have won them over, though. And when it comes to me… you just are very interesting to me. There is something very…"

"Familiar?" Akila interrupted.

"Yes." He said, curious as to how she knew. Akila looked slightly freaked for a moment and then shook it off.

"I've been having the same feelings as of late, but haven't thought much of it. But the truth is, I don't know you and you don't know me, so please if you will, stop acting like I'm some slide under your microscope. The only way you're going to get to know me is by talking to me."

"Very well; you are right, I'm sorry." He agreed. Akila then jumped onto the counter by the sink and looked at him, not really wanting to go back to the bloody marathon going on in the other room.

"You don't seem to really fit in with Yugi and his friends. I'm not saying you shouldn't be hanging out with them or anything, but you just seem different. You seem more mature and you don't seem to like everything they like, but like being with them when they do things. It's puzzling to me." She said, finally speaking her curiosity.

"You can read people well." He said aloud. "Yugi and I are very close, and his friends have been very accepting to me and I thank them. I owe them a lot, and besides, just like you I am learning new things here as well. What better way to learn then by experiencing them first hand." Akila nodded, accepting his answer as perfectly logical. "Just like you, though, I can read people pretty well. I sense something in your past is a bit more painful then just moving from country to country that has left you so guarded." Akila looked down feeling like she just got hit in the gut at how easily Atem picked up on that. "Something that you haven't been able to recover from fully." He added, noticing that he hit a sore spot, he decided to stop right there. He walked up to her, and put his hand under her chin, lifting it up so she would look at him. He saw what he was afraid to see. He had caused her pain, not with that intention. She had tears wanting to fall from her eyes, but she did everything in her power to stop it. He didn't voice his apologize, but his eyes said everything he couldn't find the words to say.

"Have you ever felt when something bad happens it happens for a reason, like something is pushing you to where you're supposed to be, even if it means hurting the ones you love?" She asked, her voice breaking from her sadness. It had been so long since her parents died, and for some reason she could never forget the pain. She had seen so many therapists to talk about it, but nothing helped. For a while she had been given anti-depressants which had seemed to make things worse. She didn't have a chemical imbalance, she just hurt, and she couldn't find some way to get rid of the hurt. This was closer then anyone had ever gotten to Akila, to make her cry openly. She still wasn't ready to tell him what was really wrong, but she felt safe with Atem, like he wouldn't judge her about anything. She then leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulders, and let out a sigh, trying to collect herself. He moved closer to her so he could wrap his arms around her.

"You're so conflicted, Akila. But even if we haven't known each other long, I will be there for you if you ever need me." What he said was true. He couldn't really explain why he could be so willing to hold a stranger like a friend who needed a hug, but right now he wasn't willing to question it. He hurt seeing her cry, and he wanted to help, he would help some how. "We should hang out, just you and me, and get to know each other. I want to know more about you, Akila." At those words, Akila stiffened. This wasn't right, this was too fast. She was crying in front of a guy she just met a few days before, and he was hugging her, and she was letting him. It scared her how comfortable she was around him. She didn't want to stop this, but at the same time, she was scared.

'_I don't understand what's going on…'_ She thought to herself. She then sat up a little, moving out of his arms, and looked him right in the eyes.

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

_**Author's Note**__: And that's where we'll end it for now. I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to update seeing as a few things are going on this month. My boyfriend's birthday is at the end of the month and my birthday is on Saint Patrick's Day, but after all that I promise another chapter will come! So until then, ENJOY! And please, try my little challenge I am really interested in what you all come up with! Much love!_

_P.s: Husn is Akila's old name from her time in Ancient Egypt. If you read the first chapter of "A Siren's Call" You'll see that I said she will have a different name. Well that's it. I don't want to spoil too much in this story, that is why there hasn't been more chapters for her back story, but no worries it will come!_


	6. Save Me From Myself

**Author's Note: **_Sorry for the delay. I think my plot bunny ran off with the Easter bunny or something. But never fear, I went to the pet store and bought a new one. This is going to be a super duper short chapter. I want to give you guys a little something for now until I can finish the whole chapter, so it's going to be broken up into two parts. It's an apology for taking so long. I promise to get you the rest of the chapter ASAP. I was going to give you one last week, but when I started to write it, it came out dark. Last week I lost a friend in Afghanistan, and I've been kind of torn up about it, still am now, but I wanted to give you guys another chapter so you all knew I wasn't running away. _

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**Save Me From Myself**

Akila opened her eyes slowly, not remembering when exactly she closed them. She looked around and found herself on her lying on the sofa in the entertainment room; the TV was on the DVD menu from the last movie the gang watched the night before. She looked around taking note of where everyone was hoping to remember the last thing that happened the night before. On the sofa across from her, Joey and Tristan were asleep, each one using the arm rests for pillows and using the blanket that had been draped over the back of the sofa. Tea was curled up in the love seat across from the TV while Yugi was curled up on the floor. She then realized that there was someone missing in this picture. That was when she realized she was laying on something. She looked up and saw Atem's sleeping figure using the armrest on the sofa she was sleeping on as a pillow. She of course was apparently resting on his torso. She quickly sat up when she realized this, and when she did she felt something fall off her. Before falling asleep Atem had apparently covered her with his jacket. He didn't want to wake her up to get her a blanket or move someone else, so he slept in what seemed like the most uncomfortable position. She sighed and then blushed before she got up and went to her room to retrieve two pillows and blankets for Atem and Yugi to use, the two whole seemed the most uncomfortable. She had glanced at the clock in the entertainment room and realized it was still early so she wanted to make sure not to wake anyone up.

When she came back downstairs, she gently lifted Yugi's head lightly, only getting light grumbled as she carefully slid the pillow under his head and then covered him up with a quilt that was kept at the end of her bed incase she needed an extra blanket at night. After a few more grumbles, Yugi seemed to settle back to sleep, leaving Akila with a big smile. She realized that he looked so innocent when he slept.

"He looks so innocent, does he? Almost like a child?" Akila jumped and looked over at the half asleep Atem who then stretched, a few cracks coming from his back as he did so. "What time is it?" He grumbled mid stretch. Akila slinked over to him with a smile.

"It's after six in the morning. Here I got you a pillow and a blanket." She said having Atem sit up a bit while she put the pillow behind his head. "Go back to sleep." She ordered as she covered him with the comforter from her bed, not planning on going back to sleep. She had always been a morning person. Akila watched as Atem cuddled into the comforter before she walked over to turn off the TV.

"I didn't over step my boundaries, did I?" Atem asked, making Akila stop as she was about. She looked at him confused. "By letting you sleep leaning on me? You looked so comfortable; I didn't want to wake you." Akila walked back to Atem and sat beside him on the sofa, brushing his bangs out of his tired face.

"No, don't worry about it." She assured him watching as it seemed his eyes were getting heavier and heavier. "Can I ask you something?" She asked, this question knowing at her. Atem opened his eyes again, almost looking alert once again. "Have we met before? It's really odd, but I feel like I knew a long time ago, but I can't think of where." Atem sat up at this, making Akila look confused at his sudden alertness. Atem knew, of course, that she couldn't mean this life time considering he had only been in this time for a few years, and it wasn't until recently that he was in a body of his own. He shook his head, and Akila laughed. "I knew it was silly, but I figured I would ask anyway." Atem suddenly put his head on her shoulder, reminding her that he was still tired. "Sorry to keep you up. Go back to sle…." Akila was quieted by Atem's quick movement. One moment, he was resting his head on her shoulder and the next, they were kissing. Akila sat stiff, startled, forgetting how to breathe. She could hear her heartbeat counting the seconds. A few heartbeats later, and she loosened up and leaned into him. 1…2…3 more heartbeats later, and the two of them realized they needed to breath. Akila reached up and touched her lips with a bright blush.

"I'm really sorry." Atem pleaded, getting ready to jump off the sofa if Akila said so. However, Akila noticed his need to flee and she stopped him.

"Don't worry about it. Go back to sleep" She said practically pushing him back down on the bed. "Good night Atem, I'll see you when you wake up." She promised before getting off the sofa and heading back to her room while she waited for everyone to wake up for the day.

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**Author's Note**: _Like i said earlier, sorry it is so short. i just wanted to make sure i was able to give you guys something for now. i will post the other half of the chapter when i can._


	7. Hey, Soul Sister

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Yugioh or "Hey Soul Sister" by Train._

_**Author's note:**__ And here, as promised, the other half of the chapter. Some odd things are starting to happen. Maaaaaaaaaaybe that kiss jump started something? Who knows? You'll just have to read and see._

**Hey Soul Sister**

"_Sing for me." Atem's voice echoed in the darkness, almost as if it were its own entity. There was silence in the emptiness, mixed emotions floating about without a mind to settle in. Another voice started to murmur, but too soft to be understood. "But I am Pharaoh, I can make you." Another murmur, the air lifting a little bit with the obvious joking tone Atem took. "Really? Perhaps I should change that" The tone was silly, flirting. As the disembodied sounds of laughter, the second voice more audible now. It was a female voice. Her laughter was loud and squeaked every now and then. Atem was playing with someone. "Will you submit to me?" He asked, both voices quieting once again. The female voice murmured her answer once again, and a sense of calming and relaxation suddenly filled the blackness as a warming white light cut through the eternal blackness._

/_Atem_…/ Crimson eyes slowly opened, responding to the slight nudges coming from the owner of the intruding voice in his thoughts. "Atem, wake up." Yugi's soft angelic voice echoed through the still very open mind link the two still shared despite the destruction of the millennium puzzle. The link the two boys figured only remained as a scarring from the power of the puzzle that once contained Atem's spirit. After all, it was kind of hard for anyone in the group of friends to believe that a power so ancient and great could really vanish from the world so easily.

/_Did I disturb you, Aibou?_/ Atem asked, using the nickname he gave to Yugi when they first met. Atem stretched on the sofa he was sleeping on, forgetting for a moment that Akila was woken up early that morning and brought him and Yugi pillows and blankets.

/_Your mind is a bit restless today. Have you called Ishizu yet concerning your missing memories?_/ Yugi asked, Atem turned onto his side, searching for his friend who was still laying on the floor, looking asleep to anyone else who might have seen, but Atem knew he was very much awake, at least his mind was. Yugi did this every now and then, when he was really tired still, he would lay there as if fast asleep, but would talk to Atem a little bit before he would doze back off for a little while.

/_I haven't been able to get a hold of her. It seems there is a lot going on at the museum these days._/

/_So Akila has been telling us. She said there were new artifacts coming in soon and she wouldn't be able to intern there for a little while. Something about the scientists needing to work on the mummy they were getting in or whatever./_ Yugi continued

/_A new mummy?_/ Atem asked curiously before he felt Yugi yawn mentally. Despite Yugi's want to help his friend with what was going on, his body was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep. /_Go ahead and sleep Aibou. I'm sorry I woke you up./_ He told him, feeling a wave of guilt flood through Yugi's mind. /_Don't trouble yourself with this stuff Yugi. It's your turn to live your life, and I have a new life to live. I bet I only received the memories I needed to save the world, and now I just need to make a new one in this life. I wont worry about it anymore I promise./_ Yugi felt sad at hearing his partner giving into defeat so easily, but he could tell that all Atem wanted was to live. It was just the nagging in the back of his mind that he didn't really know himself that was bugging the former Pharaoh.

_/It's not a crime, Atem, to want to know your self. I'm sure you will discover the missing pieces soon enough. It might be kind of like Amnesia./ _Atem seemed confused. Yes he had a form of amnesia in the sense he couldn't remember his past so well, but this was different, it was magical not medical. _/Amnesia patients can sometimes have their memories come back with a trigger. Perhaps you just need to wait for something to trigger your remaining memories. Did you ever thing that maybe getting back all of your memories at once was a little too much for your brain to handle?_/ Atem thought about it and figured it was the more logical way of thinking and it would suffice for now. He felt too jumpy waiting for the next evil to come at him, but he knew it wouldn't happen now that the items were gone.

/_Go back to sleep, Aibou._/ Atem reiterated before he felt his partner's mind becoming hazy, and Atem felt the need to detach himself from Yugi's mind before he too succumbed to the haze of sleep again. No, he couldn't go to sleep right now; he had to apologize to Akila before everyone else woke up. He now understood how Yugi felt about needing his privacy, not that Atem never gave Yugi his privacy before.

Slowly and quietly, Atem stood up from the sofa and folded up his blanket, giving himself an excuse to go up to Akila's room where he was sure to find her. He remembered what he did when she gave him the blanket and pillow, and felt awful about it. He needed to remind himself that not everyone he will meet in this time had anything to do with his past. He quietly left the entertainment room, checking behind him making sure none of his movements disturbed the others. Once he was satisfied that everyone was sound asleep, he ventured up the staircase where he remembered Akila's room was at. He lightly tapped on her door, hearing the sounds of music playing on the other side of the door.

"Come on in." Akila's voice rang out from the other side before Atem slowly opened the door to revealed Akila sitting at her computer, dressed in a different outfit from the one she wore the night before, making Atem believe she already showered and got herself ready for the day. She was wearing a bright yellow tank top that some how made her skin look darker then it did the day before and a pair of dark blue denim shorts and a pair of ankle boots that Atem noticed made her legs look nice even though she was sitting at her computer. Today she had her long hair in a side ponytail, the ponytail was twisted after the elastic band holding it in place and her bangs swept over the side of her face. It was something she saw in a magazine and decided to try out this morning, and apparently she was successful in her attempt, at least to her satisfaction. She looked at Atem, standing in the doorway with the pillow and blanket in hand and smiled. She had her thick rimmed reading glasses on, obviously to help her see whatever she was reading on her computer. "Good morning, Atem." She said sweetly, Atem not really knowing what to think of her attitude. He remembered after the kiss she seemed a little shocked, but now she seemed fine, no awkwardness or uncertainty about what happened.

Akila stood at the sight of her things and promptly took them out of Atem's hands without giving him a chance to object and offer to put it where it belongs like she knew he would. She walked to the side of her bed and promptly flung the blanket over the bed, holding onto one side of it and let it drift lightly onto her bed. She quickly fixed any crooked, even sides of the blankets so if fit over her mattress perfectly before tucking the sides under her mattress. "Easy" She said showing Atem it was perfectly okay that he didn't assist her, she was fine on her own. "I hope this made things a little more comfortable for you. Sorry I fell asleep before I could get you and Yugi something to use." She said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as she remembered how she woke up herself, cuddled up against Atem.

"I actually wanted to talk about something with you." Akila looked up at him, knowing what he was bringing up and kind of wishing to herself he wouldn't.

"I know what you're going to say, but honestly, it isn't a big deal. You were half asleep. Don't worry about it." She said dismissing the subject right away, but kind of hoping that wasn't why Atem had kissed her. Akila reached up and took off her glasses and laid them on the computer desk and smiled at him. "So are the others awake too? I was going to make stuff for us all to eat for breakfast." She said, really not wanting to talk about what happened between the two of them if the others were around. Atem shook his head, and she knew then that she wasn't going to get out of this.

"I just want to apologize. I stepped out of line there. We just met and you said you wanted to get to know me better. I shouldn't have done that." Akila waved him off, really not wanting to hear this right now, still confused about what happened.

"It was fine. I'm not bothered by it. I kind of liked it to be honest…." She slowly said the last part; not really knowing if she wanted to let him know that, but once the words were out it wasn't like she could take it back. The two stood there for a moment silent, trying to see if the other wanted to say anything more on the subject.

"You listen to music a lot." Atem said, changing the subject so drastically that it caught Akila off guard and didn't know what was going on. She shrugged, not really expecting Atem to drop the subject so quickly.

"I suppose. I told you yesterday that I like to play the songs I listen to on the radio." She said as she went back to the computer and minimized whatever she was doing on the computer before he came in.

"Can you sing one for me?" Akila blushed. She really wasn't expecting that. No one really asked her to sing or anything. It was just something she did for free time or in her choir at her old school.

"What…?" She asked, making sure she heard correctly.

"Yea Akila, we want to hear you sing to!" Atem and Akila bother jumped, having been so wrapped up in their conversation they failed to hear the others come up the stairs. Atem was even surprised to see Yugi standing there with his blanket folded and tucked under one arm and his pillow under the other one. He smiled a little when he noticed how tired Yugi still looked; a little grumpy too which made Atem think he didn't get up willingly. Yugi noticed Atem's smirk and sighed.

/_Tea stepped on me when she got up/ _Atem let out a small chuckle that earned him a confused look from Akila, the only one in the group unaware of their link. /_Shut up!/_ Yugi grunted, making Atem smile more. It was always interesting, for lack of a better word, to see Yugi grumpy considering he was so childlike.

"Come on Akila, you said you like to sing, let's hear it." Joey urged her, causing everyone's focus to be back on her. She sighed her defeat and walked to her guitar when she put it away the day before, and walked to take her seat in his computer chair.

"Do you all know 'Hey, Soul Sister'?" Everyone replied with a nod, including Atem who, despite his recent transition into this world, has heard it on the radio in Yugi's room every now and then. Akila then plucked the strings of her guitar to make sure they were in tune. "_Hey, hey, hey, your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains…"_ Akila started singing, smiling at the joy of it. She closed her eyes, focusing more the on the strings of her guitar and the words that came from her lips, calming herself and drifting into her mind as she found herself doing more and more often whenever she sang, as if her singing put her into a kind of trance.

Atem's chest began to burn a little, and he reached for it as if he were reaching instinctively for the puzzle that he had, for a moment, forgotten was lost deep within the tomb in Egypt. But, the burning was so familiar. As if, despite the fact the artifact was physically gone, its phantom still lingered, imprinted on Atem in a way. Suddenly he felt as if his mind were being sucked back into that aforementioned artifact.

"_Where did you get that harp, priestess?"_ Atem heard his voice, like he had in the dream.

"_My, Pharaoh!"_ This time the other voice was audible, a female voice. "_You won't tell the musicians, will you?_ _I was going to take it right back when I was done. I just couldn't help myself; it's so beautiful out here…"_

Yugi looked at Atem with some worry. His partners face was completely blank, but once again something was coming from his partner's mind that made him anxious. He looked at the others around him who seemed to be so engrossed in the song; he doubted they even noticed the strange feeling in the air and Atem's vacant expression. He bit his lip worried before he too was over taken by Akila's song.

"_So you can really do things with your voice?"_ Atem asked interested.

"_Of course, why else would the great Pharaoh Aknamkanon have me brought here to learn under Priestess Isis?"_ Atem sighed at the formality this girl voice seemed to need to express. _"Though sometimes, I can't help it. I still can't control it. It's not the words I sing, it's my voice. Or at least that is how Priestess Isis explained it to me."_

"_What can you do?"_

"_Anything. I suppose that is another reason I am here. I could be a big threat to the kingdom, or a great weapon."_ She suddenly silenced herself as if she almost forgot for a moment whom she was talking to, and once she remembered, realized she might have just signed her own death warrant.

"_Don't be afraid. I trust my father's judgment, and the judgment of my priests."_ A sigh of relief filled the darkness. Atem gave up on ever seeing the scene that played out in his mind, but just focused on the voices and what was going on. "_So what were you doing out here that you needed to steal the musician's harp?"_ There was a light hearted giggle heard.

"_This might sound silly, my lord, but I don't exactly know. I think it is just your garden. I get sucked in here for some reason."_ It was as if the women remembered something else. _"I keep trespassing into your garden. Please forgive me!"_ there was a sudden thud and the feeling of dread and fear filled the air.

"_Do not fear, this is the second time I have caught you in here, and this is the second time I find my garden more alive then ever before. I think I have you to thank for that." _Despite the Pharaoh's reassurance, the air was still thick with uncertainty and fear. _"What is your name, priestess. If I am going to keep seeing you in my garden I may as well learn your name so I tell the guards not worry if they happen to see you in here." _

"_You mean…"_

"_Yes, I don't mind you in here. Like I told you before, my garden looks more alive after you've been around."_

"_Husn, my Lord. My name is Husn."_

The burning came back just as it had before, but instead of the darkness pulling him within himself, a light was bringing him back to the world. It almost felt like a person being pulled out of a hole, freeing, like a breath of fresh air.

"_Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Tonight_"Atem looked around the room as Akila finished her song. Everyone looked as if they hadn't noticed anything going on, even Yugi. The others clapped as Akila blushed and put her guitar away figuring she had embarrassed herself enough for one day. Atem suddenly felt his stomach drop, worried now. Nothing like this had happened to him before and it really freaked him out not knowing what was happening.

"That was really good, Akila, don't you think Atem?" Atem nodded, not really hearing Yugi but figuring it was the correct response. "Are you alright, Atem?" Yugi was worried again. Something was right with the Pharaoh and he could feel it.

"Yes I am alright. I just need to step outside and make a phone call." Atem said standing up, grabbing his phone, that Yugi's grandfather had given him as his way of helping the Pharaoh rejoin the world of the living, and walked out of the room.

"Atem, do you want pancakes?" Akila called after him, not really understanding what was wrong with Atem. She looked just as worried and confused as the others did, and for once, everyone was on the same level when it came to their cluelessness. Everyone heard the front door slam close, and everyone wanted to run out to find out what was going on, and everyone knew that it was probably best to leave him alone for now. Even Yugi didn't bother to try and listen in to his partners thoughts.

"Did you say pancakes?" Joey and Tristan said almost in unison, trying to break the awkward silence.

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_**Author's Note:** I was listening to "Hey, Soul Sister" the other day and i felt it was kind of fitting for this story, so i had to use it. I hope y'all are enjoying the story. love hearing your feedback._


	8. Three Wishes

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or the song Three Wishes by the Pierces which inspired this chapter**_

**Author's Note: This isn't the best chapter in the world, and I hope it doesn't feel rushed. I felt it was time for Akila to get in the loop of things. Don't mind the alterations of old mythologies. I did that on purpose.**

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**Three Wishes**

Akila sat on her bay window watching as the rain ran down, watching her reflection distort in the rain drops. The dark weather always made her a bit more sluggish and lazy and sometimes even a little depressed. It had been a few weeks since Atem and his friends had come over for a movie night that turned into a sleep over, and since then she got this weird vibe from them, kind of like she was a leaper or something. Most of this feeling came from Atem who seem a lot more distant lately, and even in the hallways in school he would spot her and then dart away before she noticed, but she did.

Her room was lightly lit by the little bit of light from outside and the glow of her television which currently had "10 Things I Hate About You." playing on it, but she wasn't really paying attention. She didn't understand what she did wrong, and she didn't think she would ever find out considering the fact that Atem was completely avoiding her. She even stopped sitting with the gang, unable to fight the unwanted feeling that came off them and the fact that Atem would avoid the table if she was there. She felt angry and sad. She had really thought she had made a good impression with them, mainly him.

Suddenly, she heard the door bell echoing in the house. This was the first time, other then that one weekend, which anyone had come to their house. It wasn't really surprising considering they just moved in recently to a foreign country. It wasn't like family would be able to visit right away.

"Ms. Ishtar, what a pleasure to meet you." Akila heard her mom say downstairs and perked up with interest as she snuck to her door, hoping she could snoop on them without anyone noticing. She cracked open the door only slightly and looked downstairs through one eye, barely able to make out Ishizu and her mother.

'Why is dad's boss here?' She asked to herself, only having met the women once when she first started helping at the museum. Then she felt like the women was a little off some how. She gave Akila the same once over Atem did, but instead of cautious she seemed intrigued.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Jones. I hope I am not interrupting anything, I should have called first." Akila saw the strange women bow in respect before she heard her mother's uncomfortable laugh. She was still unaccustomed to the formalities of this country.

"It's no problem, Ms. Ishtar, we are happy to have you here. Unfortunately my husband isn't home right now." Ishizu shook her head with a chuckle, making Akila curious. It was like she already knew her dad wasn't home.

"Actually, I was hoping to see you Akila." She said looking at Akila's mom, but addressing her. Akila was startled and slowly exited her room dressed in her grey sweatpants and a tank top. She looked like she was dressed for bed with her lack of make up or care for her hair. Her mother looked up at Akila's room at the top of the stairs when she heard the creak of the door.

"You are still not dressed?" Her mother berated her, obviously embarrassed by Akila's appearance when her father's boss was present.

"So things aren't going so well in school, are they?" Ishizu asked, confusing Akila along with her mother at her perceptiveness.

"We thought she had made a few friends a few weeks back. But that is still no excuse to mope around the house all day in your pajamas, young lady." Even in company, her mother could still lecture her. Almost forgetting Ishizu had said she needed to talk to her, Akila turned back to go into her room to change like her mother said.

"Akila, after you're done changing, would you mind coming with me to the museum for a little while?" Akila looked back over the banister for a moment, looking at Ishizu and then at her mother, silently asking for permission.

"It's fine with me." Her mom said, curious herself about what Ishizu needed from her daughter. Akila whispered her okay very meekly from her confusion and quickly ran into her bedroom and changing into something that looked presentable that she knew her mother would approve of when it came to meeting with her father's boss. Once she was dressed she met Ishizu at the limo she came in, umbrella in hand.

"What is this all about?" Akila asked, not being able to wait until they got to the museum to find out. Ishizu ushered Akila into the limo without saying a word before climbing in herself and closing the door. Without a word, the driver started driving back, and despite Akila's many attempts to get the answer to her question, Ishizu either sat in silence or tried to make idle chit chat before Akila gave up with a sigh and watched the rain run down the window until they arrived to the museum. Akila walked behind Ishizu with her umbrella in hand.

"Do you believe in destiny, Ms, Mubarak?" Ishizu said casually as Akila closed her umbrella and left it at the entrance. Seeing as the museum was closed she wouldn't have to worry about it being taken or being in someone's way.

"I don't know, sure I suppose." Akila replied brushing herself off as if she could brush off the wetness on her clothing.

"Well, it was your parent's destiny to be in that accident…" Akila's stomach dropped, it was the first time her birth parents had been brought up in a long time, and for this practical stranger to know about them was unexpected.

"Excuse me…"

"It was a sacrifice that was needed to get you to where you are now." Ishizu said turning to Akila who just stood there too stunned to really understand what was being said. "Every person has a set path. Yours has led you here; each and every step. Being adopted by your parents, your father's job here, even my allowing you to help with some things here, and of course meeting a certain boy at your high school." Ishizu continued into the museum into an exhibit that she had spotted Akila in many times. Akila looked around the place as if she had never been through it before, her eyes falling onto a mummy. "'The Nameless Pharaoh', You seem quiet interested in him." Akila shrugged.

"It isn't very often you find a nameless Pharaoh. The Ancient Egyptians believed you needed a name to go into the afterlife, and it was important that their Pharaoh make the trip into the afterlife. To have buried him without his name would be like torture." Akila said, feeling like she was being accused of something. Did she really need to justify her interest in the mummy?

Ishizu chuckled, while nodding. "Yes that is very true, but could it have been done to save his kingdom?" Akila thought about this for a moment like it was a riddle before she realized she was getting angry at this woman.

"Does this have a point?" She asked roughly, mentally feeling her mother smack her on the back of her head for being rude to her father's employer. It was pretty obvious that her mother believed that she would fire him because of his family's behavior, which wouldn't make sense to Akila. A person should be fired for their performance, not a punishment for their family's actions.

"Recently we have discovered his name." Akila shrugged not really understanding the importance of this fact.

"Well that's good, now he can finally rest in peace, right?"

"In theory, but it doesn't seem to work like that. You see this Pharaoh's name is Atem Akhenamkhanen." Again Akila's stomach sank. That is Atem's name. After a moment of mulling this over, Akila started to laugh hysterically, doubling over. Ishizu just stood there, unfazed by this reaction at all.

"You're trying to tell me that this boy at school is supposed to be the reincarnation or something of this Pharaoh?"

"No, he is this Pharaoh." Akila stopped laughing and looked at Ishizu's face and saw that she was completely serious. "I realize this is a little unbelievable…"

"Yea, you're right it is! This is crazy! That mummy is just a corpse of an old king, and Atem is just some weird guy that goes to my school." She said turning to leave and forget the ranting of this crazy woman when she ran into Atem standing behind her. She jumped, practically screamed having not expected him to be there.

"Atem?" He stood there smiling lightly his hello. After his total avoidance of her for the past few weeks, he just shows up here out of thin air when this crazy person was trying to make her believe that he is some Pharaoh when its corpse is lying behind glass not more then a few feet away from her.

"I didn't realize you were going to be here as well." Atem said softly, looking over Akila's shoulder at Ishizu suspiciously. "Malik came to the game shop and told me you sent for me. You don't return my calls, but send your brother to get me? What is the meaning of this?" Ishizu bowed to him.

"I'm sorry, my Pharaoh." Atem looked startled when she said his title in front of Akila. He figured he understood why she was so upset when he walked in. His expression softened when he noticed how freaked out Akila seemed to be. "We found something in your old tomb that concerns the both of you. If you would follow me?" She asked, walking off towards the basement where she took Atem when she first told him of his destiny. Akila, however, seemed a little apprehensive to follow having images from various slasher movies run through her mind. Atem sensed her tension and decided to comfort her.

"Don't worry, she isn't going to hurt you, I promise." Akila looked at him like he was the crazy one, but relaxed a little when he placed his hand on her shoulder. Soon the two of them followed after Ishizu to the museum basement. As they walked to follow her, Akila looked along the walls at the stone tablets on the wall. Akila paused when she noticed two familiar looking figures in one of the tablets. Two figures stood facing each other in battle, one being the Pharaoh and the other looked as if to be a priest, but the Pharaoh looked like the boy standing beside her, and the priest looked similar to the famous CEO that she had seen a few times hanging out with Joey. Above the figures were two monsters, similar looking monsters to the ones in the Duel Monsters trading card game. Akila put her hand over her mouth in disbelief. Normally Akila would just think the tablet a fake had it not been in the condition it was in. "It's a really long story" Atem explained before trying to guide her towards where Ishizu was trying to lead them. They entered another room in the basement that had two tables surrounded in glass as if it were on the main floor.

"We found a hidden tomb underneath yours, Pharaoh. This one was never meant to be found though. It was completely closed off, no door or anything." Ishizu explained.

"Then how did you find it."

"One of the archeologists happened to find a weak spot in the Atem's tomb and fell in. It looks like a queen's tomb." Atem was the one intrigued by this. He never imagined with everything in his life that happened he would have had a queen. If only he could remember the missing pieces in his life in ancient Egypt. Atem growled lightly in his own frustration, making both Akila and Ishizu look up from the artifacts. Atem looked up at them, and knowing Akila didn't know what was going on.

"I lost my memories of my life as Pharaoh, but I recently got them back, well some of them." Akila gave him a strange look before looking at Ishizu who noticed she had become a bit more open minded since coming down. Ishizu looked at Atem who seemed to read her mind and answered her silent question with a nod.

"Magic is real, and five thousand years ago a Pharaoh harnessed seven items with great power. The Pharaoh himself wore one along with six of his most trusted and powerful priests. They were able to summon great monsters to fight, but in making these items they unleashed a demon who threatened to destroy the world. Pharaoh Atem gave up his life and soul in order to save his people. He sealed away the demon using his name, and then had his soul trapped into his item so he could come back and save the world again if the demon were to ever be released. In so doing so, his memories were erased. A few years ago, though, Yugi Motou solved his item bringing his spirit back. Atem did what he came here for and earned himself a new chance at life in our time." Akila listened intently before looking at Atem who looked a little uncomfortable hearing his life story told like a chapter out of a history book.

"Ok, so what does this all have to do with me?" Akila asked leaving Atem to his thoughts. She continued to look over some of the items that lay around on the tables. A few scrolls lay under the glass along with tablets showing this forgotten queen.

"From what I can tell she was a priestess in the Pharaoh's palace with natural born abilities that stemmed from her voice"

"Like a siren? But isn't that Greek mythology?" Ishizu smiled at Akila.

"Sort of like a siren. However, Greek mythologies have them as mermaids that lure away sailors. No sirens are women that are born with the ability to manipulate anything with the power of their voice being it the environment around them or feelings kind of like the Greeks said. In some cases they can heal. Anything they can set their mind to they have the potential to do. Mostly they were seen as witches, but imagine what she would be seen as in a kingdom built on magic."

"A powerful priestess." Akila agreed, almost feeling stupid for even asking. It was then that Atem rejoined them. "So the Pharaoh…" She glanced at Atem. "You…fell in love with her and made her your queen?" Atem shrugged.

"That's the thing; I don't know anything about her." Ishizu sighed.

"When Atem met you he sent me voicemails saying how you seemed familiar, he seemed drawn to you, he had seen visions, and then when you were singing for the group…" Ishizu looked at Atem to make sure that she got his story right; he nodded confirming she got it right. "He said he heard voices, one being his and one sounding like yours but they were in ancient Egypt" Ishizu looked as if she had found something no one realized she was looking for. She opened the door that was made in the glass and pulled out a rock. "Here this is why I called you here today." She handed Akila the rock and she almost dropped it the moment she laid eyes on it. In front of her surrounded in hieroglyphics was a better portrait of the woman who looked a great deal like herself.

"You think I'm some kind of siren priestess from ancient Egypt?"

"A reincarnation of an Egyptian queen, actually, and I think you might hold the secret to Atem's missing memories."

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**Author's Note: Dun dun dun SHE KNOWS. I'm thinking I might bring in an old friend pretty soon, so watch out for that. **


	9. Jolene

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or the Song Jolene!

Authors note: I'm back I promise. I didn't mean for this one to take so long!

**Jolene**

The sun shone brightly in Domino Park as Akila at on a bench with a single ear bud in her ear and her guitar in her arms. She was listening to the song playing on her ipod as she quietly struck each cord, teaching herself how to play it. It was a nice day for once, and her parents had encouraged her to go out and explore the city, since she really hadn't much since the move. She pretty much had her mind set on where she was going to go before she left, but she told them she would explore none the less.

She ignored the passer-byers as they glanced at her, probably looking for a hat to throw change in. She knew there were a lot of performers that played here, even students looking for some extra money too, which is why she hoped she would just kind of blend into the scenery.

It had been a few weeks since her visit to the museum, since Ishizu told her of her apparent past. Atem had attempted a few times to speak with her when he ran into her at school, but Akila always found some reason to interrupt him with an excuse to leave. She didn't know what to think about the situation really. It seemed to make sense, all the dreams and the feeling of having known Atem before they met in Japan. However, her logical self couldn't believe a word of it. No, she didn't what happens to a person when they die, but the thought of Atem being a spirit from ancient Egypt was just crazy.

"_Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene I'm begging of you please don't take my man…"_

Akila started singing when she felt she got the cords again, but she found she messed up a little. Growling at herself, she turned off her ipod, blaming it for her mistake. She again started playing again and singing, still ignoring the people around her.

"Having guy problems?"

A husky British toned voice came out of nowhere. Akila didn't realize that in her practicing she had attracted someone's attention.

"No, not really." She said smiling at the stranger, the scar on his face taking her back a bit. She almost asked about it, but then remembered that would be rude. She slid on the bench slightly as she noticed the stranger sitting on the empty space next to her.

"That song you're singing, it's about boy troubles by the sounds of it. I figured you picked this song because it stood out to you since you could relate to it. I suppose my assumption was incorrect." Akila smiled at his simple assumption, sticking the cords of her guitar a bit in thought.

"It wasn't the lyrics that got it, it was the mood. Anyone can related to the mood of the song better then lyrics sometimes…in my opinion." She started playing the chorus of the song again, while humming, figuring the guy would get up and carry on with his day.

"Is that so? It's funny; I used to know someone that believed something like that a long time ago. She was a singer too." He said, and Akila could have sworn she saw a look of sadness in his eyes. He noticed her stare and smiled. "She ended up with a guy I didn't like so much. It kind of ended the relationship between the two of us." Akila gave him an apologetic look before putting her guitar in her case and standing to leave.

"Well it was nice to meet you…" She realized she didn't get the man's name during their short discussion. The man smiled and stood up as well.

"Bakura." He said with a sincere looking smile, before he offered her hand. Akila shook his hand, and almost immediately she got a bad feeling in the pitch of her stomach. "Are you alright?" He asked, having heard a small gasp of surprise come from Akila. She looked at him, forcing a smile back on her face and nodded. However, she didn't hesitate to turn and walk off, a little quicker then she normally would.

As she ran off, Bakura watched on with a serious smirk, watching as she walked out of sight before he reached down the neck of his shirt to pull out a large pendant. From the pendant, three cone pieces were all pointing in the direction Akila walked off. He let out a slight sigh, relaxing, before a more natural, sinister smirk formed on his lips. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, and almost immediately, those same cone pieces started to shift directions. They started to point in the opposite direction now, and once again Bakura smirked in delight before he too walked out of the park.

Akila slowly opened the door to the game shop she knew Atem and Yugi lived in with their grandfather. She was greeted by a sweet looking old man, whom she assumed was , and bit her lips shyly, hoping she wouldn't disappoint the old man seeing as she didn't want to buy anything right now.

"Hi, I was wondering if Atem was home by any chance." She asked nicely, watching the old man pondering her question.

"I think he went out earlier, but let me see if my grandson knows where he is." She was taken aback by how quick he was to respond without asking too many questions like 'who is this new girl looking for Atem?' He walked behind the back door that read 'employees only' and before long Yugi followed behind his grandpa, and it was like seeing through a time warp. Yugi looked just like his grandfather only a few decades younger.

"Akila, what's up? I haven't heard from you in a while." Yugi's smile seemed so innocent and genuine that she couldn't help at smiling at her idol turned friend.

"Sorry about that." She said sheepishly, knowing that Atem probably told him what happened at the museum. Yugi put his hand up, letting her knew that he understood.

"It's all a bit much I know. I can't even imagine how you must feel. I was kind of forced to believe it all as everything was happening at once, but you were just kind of told with nothing to back it up." Akila shrugged. She still didn't think it was an excuse to avoid Yugi as well. She looked back at Grandpa and noticed a look of understanding crossing over his face and she realized that he was in on everything as well, but knew better then to just blurt it out. "Unfortunately, Atem isn't here, but if you don't mind waiting around, maybe hang out here, I know he wants to see you. He has been going insane. I had to at one point have Grandpa locked up his phone so he wouldn't call you." Everyone in the room giggled at Atem's expense, breaking the tension slightly.

"That's fine, it's probably nothing anyway." Yugi gave her a look of curiosity. "There was a guy at the park today, and when I shook his hand I got this feeling like I knew him, like when I met Atem, but I got a really bad feeling too." She could tell through Yugi's expression that he was concerned. "Like I said, it's probably nothing. I shouldn't have said anything about it." She sighed in relief feeling a lot better having said something to someone, even if she did sounds stupid. It must have just been nerves.

"What was the guy's name?" Yugi asked curiously, his innocent face tilting to the side slightly.

"I think he said it was…Bakura…" she said, trying to make sure she was right. It took her a moment to notice Yugi's look of horror which was matched by his grandfather. Akila looked at them, clueless; hoping one of them would fill her in on what was going on.

"We have to go!" Yugi said, tugging Akila's arm, trying to get her to come along, now. As if having read her mind, Grandpa rushed rushed over and took ahold of guitar case.

"Trust me sweet heart, you want to get going. I'll keep this safe. Go!" He ordered as Yugi once again tugged roughly on her arm, making them both run down the street.

"Wait, we're running there!" Akila yelled after Yugi, but when he didn't reply, she took off behind him.

Atem left the museum with a sigh. He went in to look at his apparent queen's things in hopes of finding something that could help him and Akila figure out their past together. It was weird how quickly he became attached to her, but just figured it had to do with their history together.

So wrapped up in his thoughts, he was taken by surprised when he got to the bottom of the stairs leading to the museum by a devious chuckle.

"So it's true, the Pharaoh is love sick." Bakura said as he leaned against the railing, waiting for his prey to show up. Atem almost jumped at the sound of that voice. "I met her today, she's a cute girl. Hasn't changed much when it comes to her looks, though, unlike her past life she is really apprehensive about accepting what's going on. That modern thinking, huh?" Atem clinched his teeth, a small growl leaving his throat. He knew he shouldn't let his guard down like he had. He knew, in the back of his mind, that something would happen. It seemed he would never get the peace he hoped. "Ah, I see what this is. You're disappointed that I'm not dead, aren't you?" Bakura was amused by Atem's sudden loss of voice. "You should know as well as I do, evil never dies."

"What do you want, Bakura? The items are gone; there is nothing here for you." He growled, curious how Bakura was back in this world. He was sure in their battle in the Millennium world had gotten rid of Bakura for good.

"Like I said, Pharaoh, evil never dies" He repeated at reached down the collar of his shirt to pull out the Millennium necklace. Atem's eyes shot open with surprise, earning him another chuckle from Bakura.

"Atem!" Atem turned to yet another surprise as he turned to see Yugi and Akila running up towards. Akila looked at Bakura with a shocked expression. She knew he was going to be there, but it was odd to see the seemingly nice stranger in the park with that evil grin on his face. It was twisted and sadistic and sent shivers down her spine.

"Well if it isn't that guitar playing girl from the park. Atem, you should really hear her sing. It's magical!" Bakura said with a hiss as if rubbing it in their face that he knew more about them then they did. Atem and Yugi looked at him, eyes narrowed, but Akila didn't know what to make of the situation. She was a little startled by this guy. "Okay fine, I see you guys aren't in the mood to chat. You don't need to be rude about it." He flung the backpack, no one seemed to realize he was wearing, around to the front in order to get into it. He pulled out a pouch from inside it and tossed it to Yugi, who seemed hesitant to open it. Atem nodded at Yugi when Yugi looked up at him for advice. Yugi gently tugged at the sting that held the cloth shut only to have dozens of gold pieces fall on the ground around them. Akila and Yugi immediately fell to the ground to retrieve them. Akila didn't know what it was, but Yugi and Atem figured it out right away. Atem, who wanted to keep an eye on Bakura rather then turn his back on him to pick up the pieces, looked at Bakura in shock in confusion. Why on Earth would Bakura give them back the Millennium puzzle when he had been trying to steal it away from them for so long?

"Don't get too excited, Pharaoh. That thing is worthless to me in pieces. Yugi is the only one that can solve it." He said, confident that he was going to get it back, but that was something Atem and Yugi would make sure he didn't do. He let out a sigh as he watched Akila and Yugi struggle to find all of the pieces to the puzzle. Again that sick twisted smile found its way onto Bakura's features as he stepped closer to his unsuspecting victum. Atem jumped in front of her, alerting her to the present danger. Akila stood up right away, feeling foolish for dropping her guard around someone those two deemed dangerous. "Down boy." Bakura said as he watched Atem's tense face staring him down. "I'm just curious, how similar she is to her past life."

"Go!" Atem demanded. Bakura got a kick out of watching Atem act like an attack dog.

"This is too funny watching you protect a girl who doesn't even trust you guys with the truth about herself." Atem's face faltered for a moment, showing his confusion, as did Yugi, Akila looked confused as well. What could this stranger possibly have on her? "You're an orphan right?" Bakura asked, earning him a completely shocked face from Akila. Atem and Yugi turned quickly to her, wanting an explaination.

"How did you know?" Akila gasped out. Bakura almost broke his composure but controlled his urge to laugh.

"Like I said before, you're just like your past life." Satisfied with the slight conflict he had caused, Bakura backed off slightly. "Well, I suppose I will let you guys discuss this revelation. I'll be back for my puzzle." He said, and without another word from the others, he left.

Author's Note: I am so sorry about the extreme delay in my update. All the end of summer madness like going to a Redskins game and then going on a vacation and then starting school and trying to get back in the swing of going to school after taking a three year break…I don't recommend that btw. When someone tells you to go right to college after high school…go. Also this chapter didn't want to be written. I couldn't think of what to do with this chapter. I could think about future chapters but not this one. So again I am so sorry and I will try to update again soon!


	10. Long Live

Disclaimer: I don't own yugioh or taylor swift's song "long live" They are both just inspiration for my story.

**Long Live**

Atem, Yugi, and Akila walked back to the game shop in silence. Well, Atem and Yugi were talking to each other through their mind link, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. How was Bakura back? How were the items brought back? Did he have all of them now aside from the puzzle? Akila walked behind the two, confused more than ever about what was going on. How did he know about his parent's death? She shivered slightly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Akila!" Yugi called to get her attention, snapping her out of her thoughts. She didn't realize that the long walk back to the shop was already over. She had been so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't realize. She had walked past the store in her daze. "Don't forget your guitar." Yugi said with a smile on his face that seemed contagious, Akila smiled back. Akila walked in the store behind Yugi, followed by Atem, to be greeted by a concerned grandpa standing behind the counter.

"What happened?" He asked as Yugi showed him the pouch with the gold pieces inside it.

"He gave me this to put back together again." Yugi said as his grandfather gawked at the pieces as if he thought he was seeing things. He had watched as it fell into the darkness, how was it back? "We don't know what he's planning. I'm hesitant to put it together. " Yugi stated as he held the center pieces in his hand, happy that it was once again with him. He had missed his puzzle and what it meant to him. It was because of the puzzle that he had his friends, and it was because of the puzzle that he had Atem as well. Akila looked at the two of them, sensing something between the two of them she hadn't noticed before. Yugi and Atem smiled at each other and then at the puzzle pieces. It was their bond she was feeling. Their bond was so strong that she could feel it coming off them.

"So that's the puzzle you were in for so long?" Akila asked awkwardly feeling slightly forgotten. Atem smiled and nodded. Seeing the puzzle there, in pieces, made everything just a little bit more real, a little bit harder to deny. "Can I see a piece?" Akila asked, holding her hand out. Atem and Yugi looked at her confused. She shrugged at them. "Maybe it could trigger a memory, kind of like amnesia. If they hear something familiar, or see something familiar it could trigger a memory. Well if this thing was in my past then maybe it will make something click." She said with another shrug. "What can it hurt?" She looked at Atem for approval. If he wanted to know his past as badly as he claimed then he would let her try something. Atem must have said something to Yugi mentally, because out of nowhere, Yugi handed her the puzzle pieces. She held it in her hand, pulling it closer to take a better look at it, running her fingers over the cold metal.

"Anything?" Atem edged as he, yugi, and his grandfather looked at her anxiously. She didn't know what she was expecting to happen, but it didn't. The only thing she notices was a small pin prick feeling in her head.

"Just a headache." She said wearily. After she said that though, she notices that small pin prick was getting a bit better. Her footing on the ground wavered slightly; Atem caught her before she fell over. "I think it might be working…" She said shaking her head as if it would get rid of the growing fuzzy feeling in her head that was starting to obstruct her sight.

"Let's get her into the other room and let her lay down." Grandpa suggested, concerned about Akila's condition. He had learned over the years to not be surprised by anything, though. Atem agreed, and without asking, lifted Akila up, bridal style, to take her into the other room. Akila groaned in pain from the movement, but then cuddled against Atem once he gave her a moment to get comfortable before he headed into the housing area of the shop. As they made it into the living room, Akila decided to go against her bodies wishes and slowly opened her eyes, not liking the inability to see where she was going. As she opened her burning eyes, she let out a gasp when she saw Atem. His already tan skin was complimented with gold earrings and a gold crown.

"Are you ok?" Atem asked her having heard her gasp. Akila shook her head again and let out a chuckle.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just need to sleep I think." She said, Atem laying her softly on the sofa. Almost right away, when she hit the soft material, she felt like something was pulling at her consciousness. At first she thought she was just dizzy and disoriented from what was going on, but then she noticed everything was going dark and distant.

"Atem! Atem wait!" A woman with long dark hair ran down the hallway towards the exiting Pharaoh. He turned to see his queen running behind him, wobbling with another explosion that shook the palace, raining derby from the crumbling ceiling.

"Husn!" Atem called after her, watching as she jumped back at the sight of a large stone from the ceiling crash into the ground, the impact throwing her to the ground. For a moment his heart stopped as he waited for the dust to clear to see what happened to his wife. "Husn!" He called again, too anxious to wait, but his better judgment told him not to run recklessly towards her. He needed to stay alive for what he was about to do. He ;et out a sigh of relief when he heard Husn coughing as the dust settled.

"I'm okay!" She called weakly in between coughs as the dust threated to suffocate her. Once it was safe, Atem ran to her helping her up. Fresh tears ran down her dust covered face, and he knew they weren't from fear or pain, but from sadness.

"You shouldn't have followed me." He barked at her.

"And you shouldn't be so willing to sacrifice your life!" She barked back. Normally no one would have dared to stand up to the Pharaoh of Egypt, but right now she wasn't barking at the Pharaoh, she was barking at her husband. "You have a son you need to raise to be Pharaoh, I can't do it alone!" She said, making a fresh round of tears roll down her face. She growled at her sign of weakness as she brushed the tears away, but the dust that covered her face showed they had been there. Atem sighed, knowing what she was trying to say. She was afraid of living without him, but this was something he needed to do. He grabbed onto her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes, looking completely serious. However, he didn't look like a Pharaoh would. She didn't need Pharaoh Atem, she just needed him.

"Listen, I have to do this. If I don't then I won't have a son or a wife or a kingdom. I need to do this for the people, and I need to do this for my family. Seth will act as Pharaoh until Heba is old enough and ready to rule himself, he will be fine. So will you." Husn broke down for good this time. She just couldn't keep the tears from falling any longer. Atem sigh, he hated to see her upset even though he knew she had a right to be. He pulled her into his arms and let her crumble in his chest as she begged incoherently. He wished he didn't have to do what he was about to do, but it was what needed to be done to save everyone. Another explosion and the quake that followed snapped them back into reality about the situation. The ceiling was about to give way again.

"Atem, cover your ears!" Husn warned him, seeing a big chuck of the ceiling that was about to come crashing down on them. She needed to keep him alive, not just because she didn't want him dead, but because of what he was planning. She hated helping him with this, but she had to and she knew it. Atem quickly reacted to her warning, and placed his hands over his ear, hard, blocking out as much sound as he could. The moment the ceiling gave way Husn let out a loud shriek, but it wasn't normal. It was like the sound of her scream slowed its fall, making it quake, and then finally explode into dust that rained down on them. Immediately Husn started coughing again, inhaling a lot of the dust. She couldn't breathe now. She had inhaled too much. Atem grabbed her and quickly rushed her into a room that seemed to be safe, for now. Not knowing what else he could do for the woman that just saved his life, he started to beat on her back, happy when he saw some dry dust coming out of her mouth, and even more relieved when she started to cough out load. She was getting air again.

"You need to be careful about that." He could hear her wheezing still and it worried him. She needed her voice, it was her weapon, and he soon wouldn't be around to protect her. "Here, take this." He said as he removed a ring off his finger that had a blue gold scarab beetle on the top of it. "So you'll always have me with you." He said as he slid it carefully on her fingers, making a fresh round of tears roll down her cheeks. Atem quickly kissed her, possibly the last kiss they would share. "Now go, get Heba to safety." Husn went to argue, but Atem stopped her. "I don't want you to see this. Please, go get Heba. And don't forget, you promised to find me in another life." He smiled, making her think back to a comment she made the night she became queen.

"I promise…" She said in defeat as she released her hold on Atem, and felt him get up to leave. "I love you…" She said, unable to watch him leave to his fate. He stood at the door and smiled down at her, knowing what he was doing would help her, that because of him, she would live.

"I love you too, my queen." He said before walking out of the door.

Akila slowly started to open her eyes, tears immediately falling from her eyes because of what she saw, or remembered. The throbbing headache that knocked her out started to fade now. She slowly sat up, realizing she was on the couch Atem placed her on. She had a blanket on now, which she figured was placed on her after she knocked out. The room was dark, and she realized that it must be night by now. She had to go home.

"You're awake!" Akila turned around to find Yugi in the doorway. He must have been checking up on her. "Um, my grandpa just got off the phone with your parents. He asked if you could stay the night. He told them that the while gang was here." Akila was surprised that the old man would do that for her. It must have been getting late. It would be kind of hard to explain that I was passed out on their sofa without alarming her parents.

"What time is it?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to wake them up.

"Just after seven. Grandpa is going to order up some pizza. We didn't know how long you were going to be out, but we wanted to make sure you got something to eat when you woke up. How are you feeling? Did it work?" Akila chuckled a little. She could tell Yugi had been holding back the question, and he just couldn't anymore.

"It worked. I feel conflicted right now, though."

"What did you see?" Yugi didn't want to press the issue too much, but he was just as curious as everyone else was.

"I saw Atem as he was getting ready to do whatever it is he did to save his kingdom. I'm assuming what he did put him into the puzzle." Akila felt her throat clinch up at the memory, and she felt the need to cry again. Yugi bit his lip and walked up to her and hugged her. He couldn't think of anything to say. It was all he could think to do to comfort her.

"Yugi, I ordered the pizza" Grandpa entered the room to find Akila crying on Yugi's shoulder. "Young lady, are you okay?" He asked concerned. She let go of Yugi, and smiled at the old man, wiping her eyes. She nodded at him. Yugi turned to his Grandpa and gave him a look that told the old man that he would explain later.

"I need to talk to Atem. Is he home?" She asked, realizing she still held the pieces of the puzzle in her hand. Yugi and Atem didn't take it from her. She gave it back to Yugi to keep with the other pieces.

"Joey called not too long ago. He is having issues with his dad. I asked Atem to get him. He was going insane; I was hoping to get him out of the house to calm down. I was thinking him helping a friend would take his mind off you." Yugi said apologetically. Akila didn't mind, she didn't know what she was going to tell him really. After what she saw, though, she just wanted to see him.

"Is Joey okay?" Akila asked concerned. She had heard once that his father was a drunk, and an angry one at that. Yugi nodded with a smile.

"He's fine. Atem is just getting him to come stay here. His father tries not to act as angry when there is someone else around, and lets Joey leave. The last time Joey left on his own, he had a black eye from his dad trying to stop him from leaving. It's just safer this way." Akila felt bad for Joey.

"If there isn't enough room for everyone I can just go home. It isn't a problem." Grandpa let out a laugh that reminded her slightly of Santa Clause's laugh.

"Don't be silly. There is plenty of room in the Motou house. You will sleep in Atem's room, and the boys will share Yugi's room. He has a bunk bed, and we can bring out the air mattress for Atem to sleep on." Akila felt bad that she would be kicking Atem out of his room, but she didn't understand why Yugi had a bunk bed if Atem had room his own. Akila's confusion must have been written on her face, because Yugi decided to answer her silent question.

"Joey comes over a lot."

"Hey Yug!" Yugi laughed a little as he heard Joey's voice from the other room. Joey had the best timing in the world it seemed. "Hey, why is it so dark in here?" Everyone could hear Atem behind him attempt to tell him not to turn on the light, but he wasn't fast enough and Joey flipped on the light, making Akila cover her eyes in pain. She hadn't been exposed to light in a while, and her eyes weren't prepared for the sudden brightness.

"It's okay Atem, she's awake now." Yugi called to him as Atem entered the room. When Akila saw Atem walk in, she smiled in relief. She was happy to see him after everything she saw, and felt.

Yugi cringed a little, like someone was yelling in his ear. "I'm sorry Atem. I wanted you to relax a bit." Yugi said, responding to Atem verbally instead of mentally. Atem blushed lightly as everyone looked at him.

/You could have said that in here, aibou./ Atem said, trying to keep his cool. Yugi chuckled, and felt like tormenting his darker half a little more.

"Next time, don't yell. I did it for your own good. You need to learn how to relax." Another blush made its way on as he let out a growl. He hit his hand against the door frame before he turned and walked down the hallway towards his room. Yugi smiled at Akila, trying to reassure her. "He's been a little uptight lately, since everything started. He's just a bit anxious. But him being anxious won't help anyone, so I'm trying to get him to relax for his own good." Akila could understand what Yugi was saying. "Why don't you go talk to him. I'm sure it will calm him down." Akila nodded at him before she walked off to find Atem. The first room she looked in was plain with pill containers on the night stand by a glass and a pair of reading glasses. That made her assume it was Grandpa's room. She walked to the next room, which was painted blue and had a bunk bed in it. That was Yugi's room. Down at the end of the hall was another room that looked about as plain as Grandpa's room, but this one held a body in it. Atem was pacing his room, deep in thought. He didn't notice Akila at all despite the fact that she was standing right in the door way.

"This isn't what I was expecting your room to look like." She said with a smile on her face as she saw that she had broken his train of thought. She walked into his room and sat down on his bed as she searched his expression for what he was thinking. But, like always, he was hard to read.

"It was their guest room, but they gave it to me when I moved it." He said simply. The tension between the two was thick, as neither one of them knew what to do. Akila, confused about her feelings, and Atem was just as equally confused. "How are you feeling?" He asked, trying to relax as Yugi had told him to.

"fine…" She was trying to get Atem just to ask what she knew he wanted to ask. Atem sighed, irritated with people messing with him when he just wanted answers.

"Did you see anything?" Akila sighed and nodded.

"I think I saw the last time I ….she saw you alive." She said, correcting herself, as she felt tears threatening to resurface. Atem looked at her and sighed a little, feeling bad for causing her pain. She shook her head and smiled at him. "Are you alright now that you know what I saw?" She asked him, making Atem aware that he was still pretty tense.

"I'm sorry, with Bakura's involvement in everything; it just has me a little on edge." Akila understood, after all her involvement in this made her uneasy.

"Don't worry about it, but you really should listen to Yugi and calm down a bit. You make me nervous sometimes." She admitted, looking down at herself, realizing she was fiddling with her fingers, something she was told she only did when she was nervous. Atem noticed her fidgeting and place his hand over hers, feeling her right away stiffen up at his grip. She glanced up at him, surprised by the gesture. He looked down at her with a soft smile playing on his lips.

"I will not let anything happen to you, I promise." He said, making Akila smile with a slight blush. She knew he couldn't watch her every second of everyday, but the gesture was still comforting. Was he going to be her knight in shining armor?

"You care about me, don't you? You don't know that much about me, but you still care about me." She said, unable to grasp the concept that he was so willing to protect her. Her insecurities made her wonder if it was because of her past. The same could be said for her feelings towards him. He was handsome, and caring, and everything she liked in a guy, but she couldn't help but doubt her feelings because of their past.

"I have become attached to you real quick, and would like to know more about you, of course." It was then that Atem remembered what Bakura had revealed to them at the museum. He was hoping to forget about it and let her talk about it when she felt ready, but it was bugging him too much right now. "Why did feel like you had to hide your parent's death?" Akila sighed at the comment. She was waiting for someone to bring it up, and slid her hands from Atem's before sitting at the end of the bed. Atem stood in his place, giving her a chance to collect her thoughts.

"I didn't want it to define who I was to people. I didn't want their pity, and I didn't want to be thought of as the little orphan girl. When you see my parents you can tell it's really obvious that I am adopted. I just don't like talking about how I became an orphan is all." Visions of the police officers that came to her house to tell her what happened flashed through her mind, and tears pricked at her eyes and she growled at herself. She was crying too much today and she didn't really feel like being the weak little girl. She could see it in Atem's face that he really wanted to ask what happened, but wanted to respect Akila's wishes to bring it up. She let out a sigh. "They were coming to pick me up from school one day. It was the first time in a long time that their work didn't have them working when I got off of school. I was really excited." Atem took a seat next to her and it made her sigh. It was rough going through this out loud. It was the first time she really went in depth about what happened. Something about Atem let her feel safe about opening up to him. "However, when it came to time for them to pick me up, they didn't show up. I was upset, but I figured something happened at work to hold them up and they would make it up to me when they got home. They usually got me a candy bar or something small to say 'I'm sorry'. But this time there was no 'I'm sorry' candy bars, there was a police car pulled up to my house and my neighbor was talking to the police. She came to my house after school to watch over me while my parents were at work. She took one look at me, and everything froze. People say I was too young to really understand what happened, but I knew they were gone before anyone told me." The tears that had been threatening to spill finally did, but she didn't start crying. She hadn't in a while. The memory now only brought about tears. Atem sat still, trying to figure out what exactly to do right now, but he couldn't.

"Everything happens for a reason. I know it isn't comforting to hear, but it is true." Akila sighed at his comment. He was right, she didn't want to hear that, but she knew he was right. If she had grown up in Egypt with her real family, she would have grown up to be a completely different person.

/I hate in interrupt, Atem, but the pizza is here./ Atem looked towards the doorway, and saw Yugi's shadow against the wall. Yugi's sniff alerted Akila to his presence to her as well. Atem noticed that she knew he was there and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Yugi's an orphan as well." Akila bit her lip, and realized how stupid she was being. Yugi didn't hide the fact that he was living with his grandfather instead of his parents. She stood up and walked to the doorway, and saw Yugi leaning against the wall brushing his tears away. He didn't even notice Akila there until she wrapped her arms around him. He stiffened at the contact but smiled.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I came up here to tell you the pizza was here, but I heard what you were saying."

"It's fine." She said as she let him go and smiled at him. "I didn't even think about you living with your grandfather."

"That's the beauty of it. After people realize what happened, they feel bad at first, but then they kind of forget about it. You didn't have to hide that from us" Akila nodded, and realized that she could tell them both anything without judgment, and that was a comforting thought. ===============================================================

Author's Note: I know, such a tearjerker chapter, right? Well hopefully that won't always be the case here. Atem and Akila are starting to get a bit closer, so who knows how long it will take them to throw caution at the wind and just get together. Hmmm who knows…I don't even know. Well until next time.


	11. ET

**Disclaimer: Keeping up with my theme of naming each chapter the title of the song that inspired this, I'm naming it E.T (No, ET doesn't make an appearance. Don't worry). I do not own E.T, but I'm very thankful to Katy Perry for making it, it's a great song. I also do not own Yugioh. I do not claim that I own either of these works at all. They just inspire me.**

**E.T**

_Footsteps echoed in the hallways of the palace as Atem made his way to one of the bathing rooms. When he entered the room he was met by two very startled servants whom, after realizing who just walked into the room, bowed in respect._

_ "Leave us." He commanded, with a hint of respect that the two girls didn't expect to hear from the young royal despite the fact that Atem was known around the palace as being much kinder then what people would expect from one of royal blood. Both girls bowed once again and laid down the basket of oils and flowers they had been using for their quest that was in hiding at the moment. Once the two girls were gone, Atem walked over to the edge of the bath, kneeling down and trying to peer past the flowers that covered top of the water. He gently pushed a few of the flowers aside and watched as the rippled he cause gave way to reveal a beautiful girl sitting under the water's surface, he black hair dancing gently in the water. Lavender eyes slowly opened and looked up at Atem as if the small movement he created alerted her to his presence. For a moment their eyes locked, and Atem felt frozen and at awe, as if he was looking at a supernatural being, fascinated by her. Suddenly, she jolted, as if trying to take a breath of air but forgetting she was submerged under water. It was as if after that split moment that she realized there was someone above her. She suddenly surfaced before her king, and bowed respectfully as she gasped to regain her breath, either from holding it for so long or the shock of Atem's unannounced appearance. Her long wet hair falling along her body, conveniently censoring her chest from her pharaoh's eyes, who was blushing as if he just realized she was naked even though he knew she was in the bathing room. _

_ "I'm sorry to interrupt your…"_

_ "…Meditation, sire." She explained right away, keeping herself from having to correct her infallible Pharaoh. After all it was disrespectful to correct him. "Is there something I can help you with, my Pharaoh?" she asked very sweetly, genially wanting to help her ruler with whatever it was he needed. It was rare for someone to actually sound like they want to help him and not sound like it was their job. It made Atem smile before he snapped back to the real world and realized the girl before him stood nude in the flower covered bath water. He turned around and found a rob sitting on a table, waiting for her to use it. He grabbed it and brought it to her; she smiled as if not realizing her current nude state. "Thank you." She chuckled in embarrassment as a light blush crossed her cheeks. She stepped out of the water as she wrapped the robe around her form and waited for Atem to tell her what he needed._

_ "Husn, I was hoping to get your assistance with a slight problem I'm having. I didn't want to bother Isis with this. I know she is busy with a guard who has fallen ill." Husn looked concerned. An issue he would go to Isis with would mean it has something to do with his health most likely seeing as Isis is the palace healer. That would be the only thing that Husn could also assist with so it had nothing to do with the Sennen items Atem and the high priests possessed._

_ "Are you having another headache, my Pharaoh?" She said, instinctually reaching out to place her hand on the side of his head. However, at the last minute she jerked her hand back remembering exactly who she was talking to. Atem frowned at this fact seeing as he longed to be close with Husn out of everyone else in the palace. She was the most caring person he had met within the palace. That meant a lot considering he had his high priests whom he trusted with his life. Mana and Mahado were his closest friends, but he didn't long for their closeness like he did Husn._

_ "Yes, it's nothing serious but it is a bit of a bother. Do you have time to help me?" Husn smiled as if that was the stupidest question anyone has ever asked her._

_ "I have time for you, my Pharaoh. If you would allow me to change, I would be happy to help you." Though the thought of Husn being in this short, almost see through, because of the water, material, he figured it best to allow her to change. "Do you know what is causing your headache today? Are you sleeping well? Is it stress?" She inquired in hopes to knowing what she was battling._

_ "Well I'm not sleeping too well but that could be from stress." Atem said, rubbing his temple hoping to relieve some of the pain himself. Husn thought for a moment, and Atem wondered what was going through her head as she blushed a bit deeper._

_ "Well if you would like, I could try a water treatment. I find it to be relaxing. It's why I was meditating in the bath instead of somewhere else. And then for your sleeping troubles, I can bring some oils to help you relax and get some sleep." She suggested. Atem had no problems with her advice, after all he didn't know that much about this stuff, and it also meant some more time with the beautiful women in front of him. Atem nodded his answer to him and she smiled. "I'll go call in a servant to help you get ready." As she was about to rush out of the room, Atem grabbed her arm, making her gasp, frightened slightly. Had she upset him somehow?_

_ "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just don't want to let anyone know there is anything wrong." Husn looked at Atem and nodded, knowing what he was secretly asking without wanting to actually say it. She grabbed his hand that held her other arm and slowly pulled it off of her and slid the rings on that hand off. For a split second, she admired his blue gold scarab beetle ring before she continued to strip him off shit other jewelry and cloak. She chuckled to herself in thought and it made Atem curious._

_ "What is it that you find funny?" He asked._

_ "I find it amazing you can even stand with all this gold on." She answered, almost sounding as if she was talking to herself._

_ "You like the scarab ring?" He asked, making her stop what she was doing for a moment before she continued once again._

_ "It's a well-made piece of jewelry. Though, what else would one expect to find on the Pharaoh of Egypt?" She smiled at him before she continued concentrating on striping Atem of the last bit of his outfit before he could get into the water. She knelt down onto the ground and started to remove his showed. Unconsciously, she gripped his leg muscle a bit, making Atem chuckle as his ego soared. It was nice that this woman found him attractive, or that's the feeling she was sending out to him. "I never really noticed all of the jewelry, honestly. I suppose I'm just so used to seeing it on you that it just became how I saw you." She said before she stood up, finished her task. "Ok, just go make yourself comfortable in the bath, and I will get the things I need." She said as she retreated to the back of the bathing room. Atem slowly got into the water and sighed at the cooling waters. He wanted to make sure he was used to the water by the time Husn got back, so he quickly submerged himself into the water, sending the flowers from Husn's bath swimming around violently, before he quickly emerged from the water. His normally spiky hair now lay down flat from the weight of the water. By the look on Husn's face, she never thought what Atem would look like if his signature hair lay flat like a normal person's hair. His right eye was covered by his blonde bangs and the red and black hair merged together._

_ "What do you need me to do?" Atem asked Husn as she brought the basket of oils over to the side of the bath before she joined Atem in the water, never once flinching at the cold. _

_ "Just stand still and relax." She said as she grabbed a bottle of oil and poured some in her hand. She turned to face him and smiled "I'm going to rub some of this on the sides of your head. The smell of the oil is going to relax you while I message your temples in hopes of relieving some of the tension."_

_ "If I'm going to be standing, why am I in the water?" He asked, earning him a chuckle from Husn._

_ "Well this bath has some of this oil in it, along with a few other ones made to relax the muscles and what not. Just let me know if you start feeling drowsy and i will have you lay on top of the water." Atem didn't understand it, but he wasn't going to question her any more. She knew what she was doing. Husn took a deep breath and let out a sigh as she started the massage. She started humming, which caught Atem off guard before he quickly remembered that her powers came from her voice. The combination of the three actions took effect quickly as Atem started to feel everything melt away. It started in his head, the pain vanished, and then his limbs felt like they were turning into the water and washed away as the water lapped against him. He could feel his mind being pulled from reality. That is until his mind pulled him back to reality as he felt himself falling. Out of reflex, he grabbed onto Husn's arm in an attempt to stay standing. However, it only caused her to fall into the water as well. Atem quickly caught himself, but Husn seemed to have been completely taken off guard by their tumble. Atem grabbed her and pulled her up as she was struggling to regain her footing. He pulled her close to her and waited for her to calm down and put her feet on the ground once again. Once she regained her balance, she caught her breath, her hair all disheveled looking in front of her face._

_ "Maybe I should have just started floating on top of the water." He joked, trying to make light of what happened. Once Husn caught her breath, she joined in on the laughing. However, they both realized how close they were to each other, and how Atem was holding her. Husn's hand rested on Atem's chest and she was slightly relieved when she felt his heart pounding as fast as hers. "My headache is gone." He said lightly with a smile and she smiled back._

_ "Good…"She whispered, her voice suddenly, for the first time, failed her. Atem put his hand under her chin, and lifted her face so she looked him dead in his eyes. He felt her struggle against this movement, but he didn't give up. _

_ "It's okay…" He whispered before he felt her relax slightly to his touch._

_ "I can't…" She said, almost sounding as if she was going to cry out of fear of looking at him in the eyes. Atem sighed, and brought his face closer to hers. Husn could feel Atem's breath brush against her. For a moment they just stood like that, Atem looking Husn in the eyes, and making her do the same. Once he felt he had her, he closed the gap between them, and gently pressed his lips against hers. Atem felt her tense up immediately and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her against him. Another second passed, and he was almost afraid that she didn't want this. That was, however, until she started to relax in his grip and started to kiss him back. She then placed her hand in his hair, griping some and pulling Atem closer to her as if there was still a gap between them…_

*beep…beep beep…beep*

Akila groaned at the loud sound coming from her side. She felt confused as to where she was, or when she was before she heard a door open and she opened her eyes to find Atem trying to sneak into the room unnoticed.

"Atem…?" She asked as she watched him reach over to the night stand next to her bed and turned off an alarm clock that was sitting there making the incessant beeping sound.

"I'm sorry Akila, I forgot to turn off my alarm last night." He said in almost a whisper as he sat on the bed beside her.

"Who is Akila?" She asked, groggily. Atem looked confused as he brushed her hair from her face to reveal that her eyes had noticeably changed once again to an exotic lavender color.

"Who are you?" He asked as he watched Akila's face twist in confusion.

"Husn…who else would I be my love?" She said before she closed her eyes once again and almost immediately fell soundly back to sleep. Atem bit him lip nervously, wondering what was going on in Akila's head at the moment. Had the alarm clock interrupted something from the past and it wasn't ready to let go its hold on Akila's mind? He sat at his window for a few more hours, waiting and thinking until he heard Akila shuffle about in bed again. She let out a big yawn and stretched as she opened her eyes once again, revealing them back to their original hazel color. "Atem?" She said startled to see him sitting there by the window as she was sleeping.

"You had another dream about the past didn't you?" he asked as he watched her cheeks blush slightly.

"You were watching me sleep?" She sounded almost disgusted. Atem watched as she slid towards the side of the bed that was closest to the door. Akila watched as Atem adjusted himself to move quickly if she ran.

"I woke up to go to the bathroom. When I was heading back to bed I heard my alarm clock go off. I came in to turn it off before it woke you up. I thought you had woken up when you started talking, then you called yourself Husn before you fell back to sleep." He tried to explain to a startled Akila who was still trying to slowly sneak away.

"So why were you sitting there until I woke up?" She asked. She tried to bolt to the door the second her feet touched the floor, but Atem was on top of her, pinning her to the door, effectively closing it.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I wanted to make sure that you were still you." Akila was frozen under Atem. Visions of her dream came rushing back to her and she blushed. "What was it about?" He asked, trying to sound calmer then he was.

"I can't tell you." She heard him growl in response, and wished that he was the Atem she dreamt about. The friendly, confident, and cool Pharaoh from her dream instead of this obsessed on edge version. "Please calm down." That only seemed to frustrate him more. He was tired of people telling him to calm down. How was he supposed to calm down with all these questions buzzing in their head, and knowing that Bakura had some plan playing out? "Please…you're scaring me." She said, and Atem looked into her eyes and saw the terror he was inflicting. He then noticed her shaking, and heard her breath quickly. "You keep telling me you're interested in learning more about me. Are you sure that is what you want from me? Or is it just to know who I used to be and how it relates to you?" She watched as Atem visibly relaxed as he thought about her question. "Look I want to be comfortable around you, and I thought I was getting that way at first. Then these visions happened, and Bakura showed up and you seemed less interested in me and more interested in what I could offer you instead. So what is it Atem? It's normal to be curious. You want to know who you are, or were, but please stop making me feel like I'm just someone who is only good for information." Atem sighed and hit his fist against the door, close to Akila's head, making her gasp and jump.

"I'm sorry. You're right" He said removing his hands from the door, hoping that Akila wouldn't run. He hoped his apology would be enough to calm her down as well.

"And for your information, the dream wasn't about anything we didn't already know about." She said with a sigh of relief. "We knew you and me…Husn…whatever... were together. She became your queen after all." A hint of jealousy came across in her voice and she mentally cursed herself. She didn't want to be jealous of her past self just as much as she didn't want Atem to see her as Husn.

"Looks like you need to relax as well." He said with a sad smile. She laughed at the irony of the conversation. Her dream, Husn was helping him relax from stress and he was helping her relax around him. Once they were both relaxed, they got closer than they could have imagined. "What's so funny?" Atem asked, not understanding the joke.

"I think the dream I had was the past's way of telling us we need to just relax and take a breath." Atem still didn't understand what she was talking about. "The vision, you can come to Husn for help with a stress headache. She was still nervous about you, you being the Pharaoh of Egypt and all, so you both help each other relax."

"That was all that happened?" Akila suddenly felt uncomfortable asking this question, and apparently Atem could sense it coming off her. As frustrated as he was, he knew she was right about needing to calm down and take a breather. "its fine, if it was of any real importance, I'm sure you would tell me." Akila groaned and hit her head against the door behind her.

"You guys kissed." She said trying to bite back the jealousy she was feeling. She suddenly felt like an anime character her friends would talk about. It was about some girl who managed to go into the past and fell in love with some demon, who was in love with her incarnation. Who would have thought her life would have turned into the plot of an anime.

Atem froze when he heard what she said, and heard the sound of her voice. It started making sense to him. "You're worried that I'm only interested in you because you were Husn in a past life?" He said watched her put her guard up once again, the one he was working hard on destroying.

"I'm not her! I used to be, in another life time! I'm me now! She had her time here!" She blurted out, right away regretting her words. Her hands flew over her mouth as if that would stop anything else from flying out without her consent. Atem wrapped his arms around her, letting her burry her face into his chest.

"Is that what you've been worried about? Why you seemed closed off towards me?" Akila sighed into his chest, now feeling relieved that she let go like she did. "I don't know who Husn is or was. All I know about her is she was an important person to me back then. But the same can be said about me as well. The Pharaoh you're seeing in your visions and the person I am now are probably completely different. We grew up differently. I grew up in this time with Yugi as nothing more than a parasite in his body. Back in time, I was a Pharaoh who was worshiped and feared." Akila hadn't thought of it like this, but he was right. The two of them are different people then the people in the past.

Atem shifted, freeing one of his arms, and put his hand under her chin. He lifted her chin so she looked him dead in his eyes.

"I want to know you, Akila…" He whispered before he felt her relax slightly to his touch. Atem brought his face closer to hers. Akila could feel Atem's breath brush against her. For a moment they just stood like that, Atem looking Akila in the eyes, and making her do the same. He watched as her cheeks brightened slight and smiled at it. Once he felt he had her, comforted her doubts about him and her worth to him, he closed the gap between them and gently pressed his lips against hers. Atem felt her tense up immediately. Another second passed, and he was almost afraid that she didn't want this. That was, however, until she started to relax in his grip and started to kiss him back.

'_Are we really any different from who we used to be…?'_

_Author's note: Sorry this chapter was so late in coming. I had a bad case of writers block and didn't know where I wanted to go from here. There was one thought where I made Akila almost kill Atem accidentally with her newly discovered abilities, but I wanted these two to grow closer together before I brought in her abilities. But you'll find that out later. Anyway, I hope this chapter was better then you all expected and I hope you guys keep reading. BTW im saying this now so no one gets upset at me. I do not know much about Japanese culture or school life aside from what little I learned in my Japanese 1 class like 5 years ago. So please don't get mad about it looking more like American culture in school life. I want to write about what I know so I don't worry more about those details then the story itself. I hope you guys understand and will keep reading. 3_


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